02x06 - After the Fierce Battle, Despair

[bunniefuu]

It is the present day.

Fully-immersive games, in which
the users wear VR headsets

to play as fully-realized
denizens of a fictional world...

are dominating the gaming world.

The pinnacle of these VR games,

boasting over 30 million players worldwide,

is known as a god-tier game.

Its name...

is Shangri-La Frontier!

After the Fierce Battle, Despair

Eighthold

I pulled an all-nighter
fighting those scorps.

Figures I'm tired as hell.

Still, Bilac...

Wonder if she's an Ancient Craftsman yet.

To repair the Non-Standard Ether Reactor,

I need an Ancient Craftsman.

You're right on time, Sunraku-san!

Hey, Emul. You really waited?

I thought you might leave
me waiting for far longer!

Take me back to Rabituza, okay?

Righty-o!

All right.

Sunraku-san, your vorpal soul is
burning stronger than ever today!

You could tell?

When you hear what I've been up
to, it's gonna blow your mind!

Don't shout like that! You scared me!

Y-Y-Y-Y...

You beat a Goldy Scorpion?!

That's incredible!

It's an evolution of your vorpal soul!

It's the Goldy Scorpion's
Crystal Ballista Stinger!

Crystal Ballista Stinger

Never thought I'd see one
with my own two eyes...

There's more where that came from!

A Crystal Halberd Pincer!

A Crystal Halberd Pincer

A Moon-Capture Carapace

A Moon-Capture Carapace!

A Crystal Whip Tail

A Crystal Whip Tail!

And the pièce de résistance...

The Goldy Scorpion's Crystal Lifecore!

Goldy Scorpion's Crystal Lifecore

You said you wanted to use some Crystal
Scorpion materials for forging, right?

This's gotta be way better, right?

You can make something
even more awesome, right?!

And what might this be, Sunraku-san?

It's beautiful!

That's Crystal Scorpion excrement.

I had a hard time even after
I beat it, though, y'know?

You ain't gonna get me!

I had to get back without
using the Inventoria.

So, Bilac, any progress on
the Ancient Craftsman stuff?

You said you wanted time, but...

Bilac?

What's the matter?

Sh-She's dead!

Durrrr...

How could this happen?!

After I worked so hard on
my plan to cultivate Bilac!

This is a painful blow...

I ain't dead yet, damn it!

Seriously, this stuff's bad for my heart.

Sunraku-san, are you all right?!

Anyway, don't you sweat it.
I'm an Ancient Craftsman now.

I'll be able to work with
Divinity stuff for sure.

I also repaired the thing you left me with.

See? All in working order!

Non-Standard Ether Reactor

The Non-Standard Ether Reactor!

It's totally working again!

That's my Bilac! You freaking did it!

Hey, let me down, damn it!

That's my Big Sis Bee!

That sure woke me up!

With this, I'll be able to
use those Legacy Weapons!

I'm gonna go nuts in those sci-fi suits!

Hell yeah!

Hell
yeaaaah

Indeed!

Sci-fi suits?

Yeah.

There's a ton of Legacy Weapons in the
Inventoria aside from what I showed you.

In order to use 'em, I need to wear this
Non-Standard Specialized Armor stuff.

Non-Standard Specialized Armor

Tactical Beasts

Those Tactical Beasts look appealing, too...

But that armor's my main target!

Well, gotta go, y'all!

Peace out!

He's always in such a hurry!

Sci-fi suits, huh?

Which one am I gonna try first?

Non-Standard Specialized Armor
"Adebane"

Let's see...

Let's see...

To activate the power suits,

you need to install the reactor into
the corresponding Tactical Beast.

Yes, yes...

Then let's equip it!

...equip it!

...equip it!

Equip...?

Hey, he's back.

That was fast!

Sunraku-san?

Whatever is...

GRAB

Because of Lycagon's curse...

I can't equip it, damn it!

When you mentioned "armor,"
I had a feeling...

Squish Squish
Squish Squish

I thought I'd lucked into a loophole

where it'd be treated as a
full-body equip or something!

Cannot Equip

They're all sh**ting me down...

But the worst part of it all...

is that those degenerates who didn't
do a single day's work for this stuff

are gonna get to enjoy it before I can!

Why did it have to turn out like this?!

I'm having a mental breakdown, here!

I'm having a facial breakdown, I think...

Sunraku-san?

All right.

I've made up my mind, Emul.

I'm going into hiding.

k*ll some time without me.

Without the Non-Standard Ether Reactor,

they won't be able to use
the Legacy Weapons, either!

How d'ya like them apples?!

You're pretty degenerate yourself.

Please return soon!

After I mentally recover. We'll see.

Hizutome

Um...

Oh, look at the time!
I really should be going!

Seriously, though. What am I gonna do?

Disappointments always hit hardest
when you get your hopes up.

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What have you even got to sulk about?

You've been reveling in your scrub life
since before summer break started.

My life's a picnic compared to you.
Wasting half your youth working odd jobs...

As long as I can spend the
other half shining like a star,

I've got no complaints in life!

Rumi.

I'd like to ask your opinion

as someone who lives on the
optimist end of the spectrum.

What is it?

If you've been saving up your money for
an outfit you really like, and buy it,

and it turns out it was actually
baby clothing, what would you do?

That's kind of impossible.

Just humor me, here.

If it was all for nothing, you mean?

I'd put on another outfit I
like and forget all about it!

I can't exactly—

Hey, I can do that!

Great advice, Rumi!

You ruined my outfit!
What are you gonna do about it?!

Just put on another outfit
and forget about it!

You suck, Big Bro!

When a game's stressing you out,
vent that stress on another game.

How could I forget that basic principle?

What I need right now is...

Not Trash Games

Semi-Redeemable Trash Games

Not Trash Games

Yeah, it's gotta be that one.

One of the few not-trash games
I really took a liking to.

I haven't played you in a while,

Nephilim Hollow.

Haven't logged into this one in two months...

No, has it been three?

Nephilim

Nephilim Hollow is a robot action game

where players customize
and fight in "Nephilim,"

which abruptly fell from the sky one day.

Sunraku

If I'm frustrated over not getting
to use the sci-fi power suits in SLF,

I'll vent a little steam with a robot suit!

Hey. Let's play around a bit, old friend...

Kingfisher.

Duel List

Okay, so what the heck was I
doing last time I played this?

Oh, right! I was doing a ton of duels
to get to the top of the leaderboard!

Pretty sure I fought the number
one ranker and it ended in a draw.

What was that player's name again?

Wonder if they're still playing...

That kettle head in the default colors...

Kingfisher!

You finally came crawling back, Sunraku!

I, Super Ballman, shall be your doom at last!

Super Ballman has challenged you.

Super... "Tamao"?

Who're you again?

It's Super Ballman, and we
fought a ranked duel before!

No way! You really forgot me?

I was trying to do a whole "your
rival appears" thing, here!

That was like three months ago, man.

If I don't remember you,
I'm assuming I kicked your a*s, right?

First you b*mb the leaderboard, now this!

I'm gonna make you regret this!

Accept my challenge, Sunraku!

I'll show you the power
of the number two ranker!

Oh? You're number two, huh?

Seems perfect to get me
back in the groove, then.

This time, my Bound Dog is
gonna smash you to pieces.

Bound Dog

Kingfisher

King Fisher!

Kingfisher VS Bound Dog

Kingfisher versus Bound Dog!

Duel start!

Awright, let's go!

The robots in this game, the Nephilims,

aren't the kind you control from the c*ck.

They're the kind you fuse with, mind and
body, to engage in your robot battles.

For my machine, I thought the
most fun thing would be to

maximize speed and add some major firepower,

a real "no thoughts, only tropes" Nephilim.

I-It's so fast!

But because I customized its maneuverability,

Kingfisher ended up burning
through its fuel so fast

I only use it for three minutes at a time.

It's all good if I can finish the
battle within three minutes, but...

The hell are you even aiming?
I don't even need to dodge!

Damn. This thing's as
hard to control as ever!

Nephilim Hollow's a good game, but
its playerbase is pretty small.

The reason I decided to play it...

Unlike in classic robot games
where you use buttons and levers,

the player's will has to control
not just the robot body,

but things like missiles and boosters
that the human body doesn't have

while also wielding weapons and fighting...

It would overheat the average player's brain.

To play a speed build on top
of that is basically madness.

I'm not turning right!

My feints are too simple!

Can't believe I'm this rusty after
just a few months out of the game...

That's a fuel-burning build, right?

You can't beat me if all
you do is dodge, Sunraku!

A flexible laser, eh?!

I think I'm shaking the rust off now.

But it's too late now...

Panzer Puncher!

I can't use my flexible laser anymore.

Impressive, Sunraku.

Forcing a draw after you
were down by that much...

But I destroyed your wings, too.

You can't flit around anymore!

Due to the way Kingfisher is designed,

losing one part results in
a big hit to my mobility.

So... what now?

Hey, hey.

How long are you gonna
hide in the rubble there?

I'll blow you out with my Panzer Puncher!

You can't hit me with those wild shots!

Your luck's run out, Sunraku!

The moment I've been waiting
for for three months...

At last, I'll be vindicated!

You won't get away, idiot!

I'm not letting this chance—

And on the verge of victory,
you mistook some rubble for your enemy.

Greed always bites you in the a*s, huh?

Sunraku...

Damn you!

Kingfisher

Winner: Kingfisher!

Hell yeah! That felt great!

You really can't beat a robot game!

Damn it! That wasn't fair, Sunraku!

What wasn't fair about it, huh?

That was all part of my strategy!

One more time! Fight me one more time!

I'm the man who'll beat Rust and
take number one in the rankings!

I can't lose now!

Rust?

Oh, right...

You...

All done with the pre-show?

It's my turn, next.

Hey, I finally remembered.

That machine, that avatar...

It's been a while.

The person I could just
barely fight to a draw...

Number one in the rankings...

Rust.

SLF Mini

SLF Theater!

#34 Window Shopping

Mini!

SLF Theater

The half-naked bird-man is back.

Don't look at him. Don't make eye contact.

Hush. He'll hear you.

Armor Shop

He always hangs out here.

It's hard to shop in peace with him around.

Half-naked with those marks...

He's gotta be a criminal, right?

Or maybe just a freak?

Yeah, the pervy kind of freak.

You think?

Yeah, he's a freak.

Don't make eye contact.
He'll steal your clothes.

The second we're out the door, run.

Don't look back!

Why won't that freak just buy something?!

He just can't buy chest or leg equipment because of Lycagon's Mark.

Maybe I really will curse them.

SLF Mini

SLF Theater!

#35 Supermodel Amane Towa

Mini!

SLF Theater

What's this?

"Amane Towa's special talent."

"Even if you get a totally
candid shot of her,

she's able to strike a perfect pose
as if she knew it were there."

Is that for real?

Thanks for having me!

For real?

For real?!

Japan's Highest Peak
- Mt. Fuji

In that case, I'll use this telescopic
lens from 50 kilometers away...

For real?