01x04 - A Trash Game Realignment of Elevated Tastes

[bunniefuu]

There are countless number

of video games in this world.

However, most of them

gets buried under many others.

Standing atop of those many titles

is this Full-Dive VR game that has

over thirty million players worldwide.

The game that earned

the reputation of being a god-tier game,

Shangri-La Frontier.

The boy who loves trash game,

Rakuro Hizutome

challenges the god-tier game,

Shangri-La Frontier!

What kind of adventure

awaits him in his path?

I throw away my defense

and put on my bird mask headgear

I'm a hustler

My point only goes to my luck stats

Parry parry

now this is my style

playing broken games all night

who's that knight?

Broken game is sickness

toxic scattered, now I'm a patient

My heart is beating almost twice as fast

The chaos wither get it bite that bug

Terrible gimmick

new game a.k.a suicide??

I don't give a damn

(Do it, Do it)

No, not yet NO it's not enough

(Do it, Do it) NO it's not enough

I still can go

Everyone looks dirty to me

Everything looks broken to me

we can go, we can go

to that mountain top, not afraid to drop

this world is going to be mine duh

(Washing Down The Good Stuff

With Trash Game)

Going to the dojo after this?

Y-Yes!

Um Well

I was wondering if there's any

interesting game I can get before I go

If you're looking for Hizutome-kun,

he's not here.

No, that's not what I

It's summer break right now.

I bet he's been playing all day.

You haven't met him yet?

Well, you told me that he's playing

with the name Sunraku in all of his game

so I searched for him.

But it seems he was playing

without stopping by the tutorial town.

He's walking his own path, eh?

That's a trash game enthusiast for you.

He might even encounter

some crazy Unique Scenarios

for doing things

normal players wouldn't do.

This early? That can't be.

But it's not unthinkable.

Well, I'm sure you'll find him eventually.

Good luck, Rei-chan!

Yes

Or more like,

just confess to him already.

I'm going!

Bye.

(Rumi Hizutome)

I'm doing multiple part-times today,

so I'll be back home late.

(Rumi Hizutome)

I'm doing multiple part-times today,

so I'll be back home late.

Sure.

Sure.

A Unique Scenario for beginners

The conditions for "Tour of Rabituza."

This must be it.

When you beat a monster

that has higher level than you

while equipping a Vorpal weapon

A special Vorpal Bunny that'll guide you

to Rabituza will appear in all towns.

When it does, it will run off

without talking to you,

so make sure you don't lose it.

After the defeating Ravenous Python,

the monster that attacks Rabituza,

you can earn special magic,

Enchant Vorpal.

I knew it.

It's totally different from

the one I got yesterday.

The one appeared before me

wasn't a python

Although not as much as Lycagon,

he was real damn threatening

A boss rabbit who acted like a yakuza.

So whaddya think?

Would you mind lending me your time?

I'm the boss of Rabituza, Vysache.

So ya went toe-to-toe

with that puppy, eh?

You've got quite the Vorpal Soul, I'd say.

What on earth is "Vorpal Soul"?

Whaddya think?

If you want to

I could train ya personally.

Train?

Oh, I get it now!

This is a training quest!

The kind that'll give me

incredible bonus!

I have no reason to refuse!

Please give me your guidance

Aniki!

Huh?!

You said "Aniki"?

Eh?

Uh, no It was just

a little turn of phrase

Oh, crap!

Did I

messed up what to say?!

I like ya!

If ya asking fer trainin',

that makes yerself my underling!

That's the spirit!

You can call me Vash!

Folks I acknowledged call me that.

Of course, Vash Aniki.

G-Good thing I was right!

I thought he was gonna skin me alive!

Emul!

Yes, Dad Boss!

You take care of this guy for me.

I'll give it my real best!

I'll do my very real best!

I'll do my very very real best!

Now then, Sunraku-san!

Allow me to show you around the palace!

Ah, one second.

I've been playing for so long already,

so I'm actually thinking

about resting for today.

Oh, I see That's too bad.

I want to do research on these

Unique Scenarios and Unique Monsters, too.

Well then, let me take you

to the Rabituza inn instead!

I see! So I can update

my respawn point here?

Yes, that'd be great.

Of course! Leave it to me!

Oops, that was close.

I almost forgot about this.

Eh?!

Wh-What's this?

A forced equip?

Vorpal Soul Collar obtained.

(Cutting EXP earned by half when equipped in exchange for boosting

the status points earned when leveling by 2.5x (decimals ignored))

What?! "Cutting EXP earned

by half when equipped"?!

Hey!

It's useless.

You can't take that off

without my permission.

For the weak to get stronger,

they gotta go through

a trail like none other.

Never forget your Vorpal Soul!

It looks great on you, Sunraku-san!

I

I got even more restrictions now?!

2.5x the status points, huh

Although it cuts EXP I earn by half,

it is actually a pretty good merit.

To put it mildly, it's a broken item.

Looking at the forum,

nobody's said anything about this collar

nor about Vash and Emul, either.

And nobody has discovered

a Unique Scenario that

let the player go inside

the Palace of Rabituza.

A completely unknown Unique Scenario

that nobody knows but me!

This is exciting!

Oops, almost time for the meet up.

That damn Katzo.

He asked me to play

"BOP" outta nowhere.

I haven't logged in in ages!

Berserk Online Passion, "BOP" for short

or BERP.

BOP is a fighting game

Rakuro used to play a lot,

and is of course, a trash game.

Currently, its daily user count

is in the double digits.

Since the game's population is so low

you wonder why the servers is still going,

most of the remaining players

know each others

(Sunraku)and are birds of a feather.

The trash game enthusiasts.

(Modor Katzo)

You finally come, Sunraku.

Let's get started.

What are the rules?

Ready Fight!

Isn't it obvious?

Vale tudo!

Anything goes!

Eww, that's such a gross-out bug.

It's a new trick I found while

you were busy with Failia Chronicle!

NSFW Tentacle Attack!

You developed yet

another bugged move, eh?

You're a pro gamer,

but you're as crazy as ever!

Modor Katzo!

Quick-Draw Fist!

What?!

I put delays in,

but you dealt with those?!

Your reflexes are what's crazy here!

In theory, as long as there are

twelve frames to respond,

Quick-Draw Fist is the strongest style that

can counter even a boss's insta-k*ll attacks!

I'll smash all your attacks!

Whoa, Modor Katzo is fighting!

Hey, ain't that Sunraku?!

No way!

- It's a fight between two high-end players!- Despite being a trash game,

- this game has a niche appeal.

- Hey, guys!- this game has a niche appeal.

That is Vale tudo but also Bug tudo.

"Any bug goes."

Woohoo!

There's hit box

on the smashed fists, too?!

You lose!

But well

I've been fighting nothing

but NPCs lately,

so thanks for the match and

the trash game recharge, Katzo!

When you texted me

you started playing SLF,

I thought it was just a bad joke,

but you were serious, huh?

To put it unabashedly,

I'm quite addicted!

I suppose pigs will fly next.

Just hear me out.

According to the forums,

there are these really powerful monsters

in SLF called the Seven Colossi.

Apparently they've only identified

the names of four of them.

So?

In the entire history of the game,

no one's beaten any of them.

Oh?

Huh? It's over already?

Seriously? Damn, I missed it.

Hey, it's Sunraku!

It was awesome!

And I fought one of them

and it beat the crap outta me.

So that's what got you hooked?

In the meantime, I don't intend

on quitting until I beat that dog.

Then maybe I should

pick it up, too. SLF.

What? Really?

Since it made you say that much,

it piqued my interest.

Besides, none of my IRL friends

play this game.

Ah.

Oh, right. Do you know

she's also playing SLF?

She?

I emailed her saying you picked it up.

Cuz it's a big deal!

"Sunraku started SLF"?

That trash game addict Sunraku-kun

playing SLF?

I thought he would die

if he played anything

other than trash games.

(Arthur Pencilgon)

This means I oughta give him

a bit of a gentle initiation.

(Secondale - Back Alley)

Oh, we really made it back.

It's a teleport gate.

With me around, this is a piece of cake!

She sure is convenient.

I know it's because

I play BERP before this,

but it's so easy to move in SLF avatar!

When you woke up,

you said you wanted to go somewhere.

But where is that?

The Rabituza palace

has a battle arena, a training zone,

and all kinds of fun stuff!

I'm sure interested in that place,

and I really wanna check it out,

but before it fills up here,

I'd like to go to the next town,

Thirdrema.

Fills up?

The number of starting players

is ramping up during summer break.

The forum said Firstia was already

bursting at the seams with players.

I bet that'll happen here, too.

Oho, I see.

When that happens,

everyone will scramble for town facilities

and monster and material drops.

Oho, I see!

I heard Thirdrema is a pretty big town.

If I'm going to get into gears

tackling this Unique Scenario,

a town with a lot of excess capacity

would be the best.

Oho, I see!

Do you really understand?

I don't know what you're talking about!

So you don't

However, if you're going to the next town,

I'll gladly join you!

Huh?

A party request?

You can form party with NPCs?

You can't access Rabituza

or its palace without me, after all!

Yeah, true, but I thought

you were just going to follow me.

(NPC "Magical Bunny Emul"

sent you a party request. Accept?)

(NPC "Magical Bunny Emul"

joined your party)

(Emul LV: 56, Sorcerer

Vorpal Bunny Traveler)

She beat me in early all my stat

I only barely win out in agility

But that's okay. I can just

outpace her soon enough.

I think Lycagon's Mark was

the trigger of this Unique Scenario.

So could she be a helping hand to

make up for the curse's disadvantages?

If so, they did a good job.

Nice to be with you, Emul.

Yeiya!

Thanks for letting me join you,

Sunraku-san!

So cute!

What's that rabbit?

That's Vorpal Bunny, right?

You can tame them?

More importantly,

it just talked, didn't it?

Whoa, a big bird!

Half-naked? A pervert?!

She's really excited, huh?

Crap, I was numb after

talking with her for so long,

but Emul's an NPC from

an undiscovered Unique Scenario!

I lucked out getting this scenario

that I only knows about.

If possible, I'd like to keep it

a secret until I clear it!

Zip it there!

This is actually ventriloquism!

I'm in a hurry, so bye!

- Hey, wait!

I'm in a hurry, so bye!

Aww, I wish he could at least

told us how to tame one.

I took a screenshot.

Let's ask about it on the forum!

Okay, there aren't any players nearby now.

I'm not good at scampering.

That's not a very "rabbit" thing to say.

You have about the same agility as I am.

So what are we going to do now?

Let's see

I'd like to test out some things.

Test out?

The curse

The part about the marks.

"The character with Lycagon's Mark will

have lower-level monster flee from them."

Ah! Sunraku-san, it ran!

It reacted as if it saw a freak.

All right! Just what I wanted!

First, chase it down at full speed!

And not just chasing it blindly,

but guiding to run

straight at an obstacle!

And then

Right when it's about to

change direction

Throw weapon!

After the target's stopped

smash it down

with all the speed you got!

An attack with extra momentum bonus.

It's an expected result based on

the law of physics in real world,

but very few games actually replicate it.

But of course, this game replicate

everything as closely to the real world.

That was amazing, Sunraku-san!

I can't tell which was

the real monster now!

Is that supposed to be a compliment?

All right!

Even with these marks, I can at least deal

with monsters around as fast as that one!

I'm done checking,

so I'll announce our plan!

Ignore all the mobs!

Only fight area bosses!

Over!

That's pretty loose for a plan

Since I'm built for speed,

let's keep it fast!

Let's head to where the area boss

is waiting for us, Thirdrema!

Um

According to the map

The area boss should be around here

But it's all just marshland.

My clothes are gonna get all dirty.

Well, I did kinda expect this. Yeah.

Emul did tell me on our way here.

Actually, since we kinda

left the town in a hurry,

I didn't get to ask

anyone about the boss.

Do you know anything, Emul?

The boss of this area is a monster

by the name of "Mud Digger."

He'll jump outta the ground

and bash into you,

so you gotta keep him from moving!

Mud Digger

A battle in the marshland

I'm in a trouble, am I?

Sunraku-san, it's coming!

Get on my shoulder!

Aye-aye!

The muck system

in SLF is as follows:

Upon entering until

your foot hits solid ground

your other one is stuck in the muck,

putting you in a forced walking state.

(Area Boss, Party Size: 4) (Mud Digger)

Which means

(Area Boss, Party Size: 4) (Mud Digger)

This guy and me are a terrible match.

I scream in envy so much it hurts

I cry that this is where it ends

It's going to change, I'll change it

I don't want to think

it's impossible anymore

The goal I set up is now

the starting line for me to run again

Hit me with that despiar, it excites me

Telling me give it a go

I should be able to go as far as I want,

yet I mistake this to be my limit

Is getting an easy win

sometimes necessary?

It exhilarate me,

telling me to give it a go

I have a dream,

so even my complaints is not a joke

I scream in envy so much it hurts

I cry that this is where it ends

It's going to change, I'll change it,

I don't want to think

it's impossible anymore

I don't mind breaking if I can move on

I hate giving up even more

I'm going to make it come true,

make it a reality, I'm always serious

Make it so I'm only

a little away from obtaining it

Let me ace this even if it burns me

SLF Theater!

Mini!

I'll take a sleep now.

Good night.

(Logged out)

Have a nice sleep, Sunraku-san.

I should also take some rest, then.

It's so much better

being in my original form.

Sunraku-san!

Good night!

A dream?

(When a player logged out of the game,

their avatar will disappear.)