02x05 - The Impetus of Hunger; The Persistence of Thirst

[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!

Fall damage.

It's a physics engine death
sentence dealt out equally

to NPCs, players, and monsters.

I call this strategy the Scorpion Falls.

Crystal Scorpion slaughter complete!

The Impetus of Hunger; the Persistence of Thirst

All right, I beat me a huge
batch of Crystal Scorpions!

Bet I'll be seeing a bumper crop of levels!

That's weird.

They should've hit the ground by now...

Why didn't I get the EXP?

You get EXP when battle is declared over.

The fact that that hasn't happened means...

The battle isn't over yet?

Thought so. Waiting in the wings, huh?

Guess I'll just have to herd
a few more of you into the—

Huh?

A-A golden Crystal Scorpion?!

A rare enemy?

Rare Enemy
Goldy Scorpion

It tossed that Crystal
Scorpion around like a toy.

That gold freak!

I guess it doesn't swarm
like the normal kind...

Which means it'll be hard to drive
it off the cliff like the others.

So what should I do? Run away?

I can get out of the battle by
hiding out in the Inventoria...

But...

For a true gamer...

running away...

is not an option!

All right. I'm a lone wolf right now too.

If you want a duel, I'll give it to ya!

Nitro Gain

Transient

Cut it in half?!

Its pincers are sharpened,
and it's more aggressive.

It's a whole different beast
from the standard ones!

Just imagine it's dual-wielding longswords!

The golden crystal that covers its body...

When I slice at it, it feels softer
than its standard brethren,

but it's still just like steel instead of titanium,
and my attacks still don't leave a scratch!

Not exactly helpful!

And whatever toughness it's lacking,
it makes up for in speed!

I get to fight it one-on-one because it
cleared out the nearby Crystal Scorpions...

But I'll have to be careful
not to stray out of this area.

Gotta keep the fight as compact as possible.

And against Mr. Gold here...

Talk about impossible mode.
Can't help but laugh!

He's got projectiles, too?!

And pretty clearly poison, at that!

I'm starting to figure this guy out...

To coin a phrase...

He's combat specialized!

Offense, defense, speed,
both long-range and short-range attacks.

But...

More poison? I see it coming.

If I anticipate the firing
angle, I can easily dod—

A scattered shot? I...

I can't dodge that!

That was freaking close!

I teleported just in time!

Inventoria

That little b*stard!

I didn't know he could blast
his poison all over like that!

Calm down, man.

Getting riled up will affect
how your avatar moves.

Even with MP recovery potions,

I can only teleport to and from
the Inventoria six more times.

Gotta be careful how I use that.

Exit Travel!

Just gotta watch out for that scatter poison.

If he sprays it out at close range,

running to the Inventoria will
be the only way to escape.

But by the same token, getting rid of his
stinger could turn the battle in my favor.

And in addition, his flurry
of attacks has revealed...

a gap in that gold crystal carapace
I thought was all-encompassing.

Maybe it's what makes him faster,

but there's slight gaps in
his armor here and there.

Let's use poison on poison.

Shelve Weapon

Empire Bee Twinblades
equipped.

The Empire Bee Twinblades...

The right blade carries the corrode
attribute, "Corrosive Poison."

Corrosive Poison

Corrosive Poison infects the part it
strikes and gradually destroys it.

Glowing Pierce!

Glowing Pierce

Yeah, it worked! I broke through!

Knew I could hurt it if
I aimed for the cracks!

Aw, what's the matter?

Lose your nerve all of a sudden?

Is this dude serious?!

He can regenerate, too?

He's not just combat specialized...

He's flawless!

Reminiscent of a Colossus...

What's got me so scared, huh?

I'm playing this god-tier game, SLF,

to beat Lycagon, aren't I?

Against one little rare enemy
that's not even a unique...

There's no way I'm gonna lose!

I'm gonna break off your stinger this time!

Glowing Pierce!

Dang, he's tough...

I get that it's a rare enemy,
but this thing's a beast!

Whoever designed it is twisted as hell!

Even if you navigate the attack barrage
and hit the gap in the carapace,

it leaps away and starts regenerating.

I'm not completely sure,

but when it holds its pincers
up under the moonlight,

I think that's when the regeneration starts.

Speaking of...

The moon played a part in when Setsuna
of Bygone Days appeared, too...

Does it absorb mana from the moon to recover?

Does the moon have some relationship to SLF?

Either way, I gotta find a way
to stop that regeneration!

Glowing Pierce!

Weapon Durability

Destruction Imminent

Weapon Change Recommended

Damn it! I'm at the limit of my durability!

It just recovered from Empire Bee
Twinblades' Corrosive Poison instantly.

I've only got enough MP to move back
to the Inventoria two more times.

I haven't been through a hair-raising battle

like this since Wethermon the Tombguard...

Sounds like fun!

I'll put all my cards on the table!

Vorpal Blade Tech: Moon's Reflection!

Vorpal Blade Tech
[Moon's Reflection]

I just have to take you down
before you can heal up, right?

Skill...

Boundless m*ssacre

Boundless m*ssacre!

A powerful attack skill that deals out
fast damage until my stamina runs out.

It deals tons of damage,

but the animations are so extreme it's
hard to dodge while you're using it!

But I've got this on my side...

Enter Travel!

I can't use that every time,
but it was a great start!

We're just getting started!

He regenned again?!

Damn it...

Shelve Weapon

Marsh Daggers [V3] equipped.

Not this time!

Seven-Boat Leap!

Seven-Boat Leap

Think you can keep brushing
me off to regenerate, huh?!

Hand of Fortune!

Hand of Fortune

How'd ya like that one?!

Not recovered yet, are ya?

Looks like you can't take in the moonlight
unless you can raise up both pincers.

Now it's really getting fun!

Moonblade

Combination Possible

I've maxed out my Moonblade fusion gauge!

Moonblade: Twin Moon!

Moonblade [Twin Moon]

Time to pile it on!

Cleaver

Cleaver!

Just... break off already!

Hell yeah! I finally tore it off!

I'm not the man I was back then.

Sky Walker!

I got the rare item off the rare enemy!

Now to tuck it away in the Inventoria!

Guess taking his precious stinger
triggered his berserker mode!

Hey, now, that's not what I signed up for.

I can only Enter Travel one more time.

Wait...

That's right.

I see it now, Mr. Gold...

I know how I'm gonna beat you.

Skate Foot!

Catch me if you can, scorpi-morons!

Don't worry! I'm not gonna
dump you in the ravine!

C'mon, everyone!
Don't sleep through the party!

Wake up, Crystal Scorpions!

My first sight of the gold guy was him
attacking another Crystal Scorpion.

So they're hostile to each other.

If I can turn 'em on each other,
I won't even need to fight!

All right, think that's far enough...

Whoopsie!

Seven-Boat Leap!

Don't spend all your time on me, now!

You've got a whole hostile
plague to deal with.

Good luck!

Enter Travel!

I've seen how crazy strong you are.

But if you can't see,

and you've got Crystal Scorpions
attacking you willy-nilly...

How long will even you be able to hold out?

It's over, gold man.

You've lost!

Guess I'd better head back now.

Even if there are still some
Crystal Scorpions hanging around,

I'll just drop 'em off a cliff again!

Exit Travel!

Yay! I beat the gold guy!

Nothing personal, bud.

But anything goes in a fi—

No way!

He beat all those Crystal Scorpions?

Sorry, man. I underestimated you.

Guess I gotta beat you myself after all.

I'm out of MP to use for Enter Travel.

But I can still win this!

He can't see, but I guess he's
tracking me through vibrations.

That might be why his attack
precision is way down.

But...

It's blowing me back!

The mana he expels like steam from
his body makes it hard to close in.

In that case...

Go, Blasting Earth Idol!

"When the Blasting Earth Idol's
dance reaches its cl*max,

it shoots flames from the earth."

Bet that pincer's throwing
you off-balance, huh?

I'll cut it off for you.

Vorpal Sword Tech...

Vorpal Sword Tech
[Half-Moon Slash]

Half-Moon Slash!

Now you're all out of weapons.

It's almost morning.

Go down with the moon!

The tail can still move?!

Damn it. The Empire Bee Twinblade
is on the verge of collapse.

I can't finish the job!

I'm the one without a weapon now...

What do I do?!

Sky Walker

No...

I do have a weapon...

A great pair of daggers!

Y'know, we've been together
a long time now...

Let's finish this, Marsh Daggers!

Glowing Pierce!

Hey, gold scorpion...

I couldn't have beaten you
without the Inventoria.

You were a tough opponent.
On par with Wethermon.

Man, that was fun.

Shangri-La Frontier rules!

SLF Mini

SLF Theater!

#33 A Day in the Life of Emul

Mini!

SLF Theater

I wonder what Emul's up
to while I'm logged out.

Logged Out

Sunraku-san is asleep!

Fast asleep!

Then I'll...

Clean, clean, clean! La-la-la!

I'll give him a tummy blanket
to protect his digestion!

I'll make his face all spic and span!

I'll sing him a lullaby!

Go to sleep, go to sleep little boy...

You're a good boy, Sunraku-san...

Sleep peacefully...

What is she, my wife?

In fact, when players are logged out,
their avatars disappear.