Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 26

Capital of Hope

The Secret Medicine of Hope could only be obtained by going around the World of Hope.

That was the reason it had the word hope attached on it.

The effect was weaker than when it first appeared, and other potions  with higher effect kept appearing so this item was becoming forgotten.

When its effect was still in its golden age, many parties would  repeatedly take the quest in order to gather the ingredients and  obtained the Secret Medicine of Hope.

The last ingredient of the secret medicine was a plant monster. Ponsuke threw a flask filled with liquid toward it.

「Oraa, eat this!」

The flask hit the monster and broke. Then it generated flame and caused the monster to start writhing violently.

Ponsuke made a guts pose seeing the bad status had gotten attached to the monster.

「It’s a trick from a little while ago. Looks like it’s still effective even now.」

The troublesome monster was so strong that it was treated like a field boss.

But it also had weakness and defeating it was easy with that.

Alfie also threw a flask.

「I thought we had defeated almost all of the area boss and field boss. We’ll also get point with this!」

They surrounded the boss and threw flasks at it.

It looked very cowardly from outside. But, this was also the result of the preparation that Ponsuke and others had done.

They gathered information and made preparation――things went smoothly  like this because they didn’t simply rush in without plan but…….

Nanako was looking a bit troubled.

「I-is this really alright? It feels like we’re cutting corners……」

Mariela held her flask far to the back before throwing it with all her strength to the monster.

「No problem. Besides, didn’t we spend many hours to prepare these  things? This isn’t cowardly. Rather we had spent so much effort for it.」

Nanako seemed to accept it too when Mariela talked about how much time they had used up. She threw her flask.

Alfie provoked the helpless monster.

「Come on, what’s wrong? Come at us. You’re a boss and yet you’re so helpless.」

The plant monster fired see from its flower that seemed to be its head at the composed Alfie.

The seed hit Alfie’s head. Mariela laughed.

「That’s because you’re too relaxed! Hey, how does it feel getting counterattacked? Tell me.」

They were so composed they even had leeway to fight among themselves.  Everyone was convinced of their victory and at the end they obtained  the key item, [Seed].

Ponsuke sighed deeply and felt relieved seeing the item.

「Fuu, we only need to go back now.」

Mariela also agreed.

「We need to hand it to the old woman and have her create the secret  medicine isn’t it? After getting one, it will be over after we report to  the guild I think.」

When she said over she also included the meaning that they would have fun until the login this time was over.

After all they estimated that they would arrive at the city by evening.

It was also possible for them to have fun right away, but as expected they still felt tired mentally.

「Let’s party when we get back. We’re going to call the six orcs too today.」

Ponsuke tilted his head when he heard what Alfie said.

「Six? There were only five――」

Alfie told him with a smile.

「Aa, they increased. They were all pervert but, it looks like they want to meet Nanako-chan.」

Nanako showed a pure smile.

「The orcs will also come? I look forward to it.」

Mariela looked uneasy.

「Those guys aren’t doing anything strange with Nanako-chan right? No,  wait……they gave her high heel though, did nothing really happen?」

Mariela pressed Alfie with questions, but Nanako tilted her head with puzzlement.

「Everyone was kind to me.」

Alfie also explained that she didn’t do anything wrong.

「This is a misunderstanding. I was properly watching them, and I also  ordered them to not give something like a whip! The high heel……I let it  pass because I heard it was shoes.」

Ponsuke held his head and sat on the spot.

(So there’s even more of them. There are more of those perverts now!?)

.

.

.

The party spurred their horses and donkey toward the Capital of Hope.

The sky was tinged red when the Capital of Hope came into view. The  sky where blue and purple blended together looked like a real sky.

They chose the route that passed through the grassland instead of the  road. Ponsuke was dissatisfied because they arrived faster than  calculated.

「We should just use the road.」

Alfie’s hands were not holding on anything even though she was riding  a horse. Even so she didn’t fall thanks to the game support.

「We’ll have more time to play the faster we arrive. We’re going to party until late night today!」

Alfie said that and spread her arms wide open. It was at that moment.

「Alfie!」

Mariela yelled and looked back, where Alfie was blown away from her horse. Alfie’s horse stopped running.

「What――」

When they looked forward, they saw some players on a slightly elevated spot at the grassland.

Ponsuke immediately jumped down from his donkey and raised his weapon.

「Player killer……at this kind of place」

His left hand raised his large shield while his right hand held his one-handed sword.

Mariela drew her bow atop her horse. She aimed at the enemy players and raised her voice.

「Eh!?」

Her voice sounded shocked and in disbelief.

And then the next moment Mariela also got thrown off from her horse. She fell backward.

「……Ha?」

Ponsuke couldn’t believe it.

They had experience of other players picking a fight with them even before this. They had also experienced dealing with them.

The damage that was caused from player attacking other player was greatly reduced.

They would just waste time trying to defeat each other.

There were also a lot of them who attacked for prank before running away. Few players genuinely tried to defeat them for real.

However the group before them seemed somewhat different.

「Ponsuke-san!」

Ponsuke raised his large shield in respond to Nanako’s voice. And  then after taking position to cover for her, Ponsuke checked his item.  He entrusted all the key items from the quest this time to her.

「Nanako-chan, something is strange. I’ll lure them away, use that time to ride your horse full speed to the city.」

「B-but――」

Looking forward, the enemy players were walking to this way with composure.

「Quick!」

Ponsuke forcefully touched Nanako’s horse and pushed to make it run.

It caused a small warning letters to pop out, but it immediately vanished.

The system gave a warning because Nanako was disagreeing with it.

Ponsuke also ran and took a position to cover for Nanako.

Then the enemy players aimed their guns toward their way.

「The one who hit that woman win.」

The four then pulled the trigger after that. Ponsuke put his strength  into his body. Four bullets hit his large shield, then he noticed that  his large shield’s endurance decreased by a lot.

「Gun? Why is that kind of weapon――」

There was no job that could use gun in the Capital of Hope. Even the gun itself didn’t exist here.

When he observed the enemy players more carefully, he noticed that  their equipments and accessories were also mostly things that he had  never seen before.

Alfie and Mariela ran toward him from behind.

「Ponsuke, what did those guys do!? My HP got reduced a lot!」

Alfie looked disbelieving.

It was only natural for her to react like that. They were players who  had reached level 50. Their level was already maxed if it was only at  the Capital of Hope.

Most of the times they could just force their way through even if  they encountered some player killers. Even if the enemies also had maxed  level, it would still be pointless if they beat each other, so most of  the times it would be the player killers who retreated.

But the players in front of them were different.

「As I thought, it’s hard with level restriction. I also can’t use my main equipment.」

「It’s a good handicap. This is just right for hunting.」

「Forget about that, what are we going to do with the one who ran away?」

「Let’s toy with her inside the city.」

The group guffawed. Mariela whispered into Ponsuke’s ear seeing that.

「Ponsuke, I got a warning when I tried attacking them. This never happened before.」

Notice or warning often appeared, but Mariela felt that something was  different than usual. This was Mariela who often quarreled with Alfie  saying that, so Ponsuke also thought that there was really something  different.

「You guys, what is so fun from doing this kind of thing?」

When Ponsuke said that, the enemy players looked astonished before they started guffawing again.

「Of course it’s fun! Crushing stupid looking guys like you playing  this game without any care in the world is the best fun there is!」

The leader who had blond hair said that and then he was followed by the other three.

(It’s unbearable listening to them but, the quest will at least get cleared if Nanako-chan can reach the city.)

Ponsuke whispered to Alfie.

「Send a message to Nanako-chan. Tell her to finish the quest right away. Also, tell her to logout――」

One of the enemies suddenly closed the distance while Alfie tried to send a message.

He was holding a great sword and made a large swing with it.

「――Eh」

Alfie made a surprised tone in disbelief. And then she vanished with a flash of red light.

Alfie was treated as dead.

「Alfie!」

Mariela yelled. And then she hurriedly fired an arrow. The enemy quickly dodged it, and then he cackled while mimicking Mariela.

「Alfieee~, she said! Still you guys are so weak. We got our level  restricted to 60 here. Even our weapons are the sub of the sub you  know.」

He sported an ugly smile and then the great sword on his shoulder took an ominous shape.

With such shape, they would believe it even if they were told that it was a demonic sword.

Ponsuke raised his large shield, and then he slashed with his one-handed sword. The enemy lightly blocked that attack.

「Uwaa~, this guy is orc. So there’s really idiot who use that. It still has considerable power so I don’t like it.」

He said that orc was powerful but there was only composed smile on his face.

He held his great sword with one hand and parried Ponsuke’s attack,  and then he jumped back. Another player with a short sword immediately  took his place and straddled Mariela.

「Thanks for the foo~d!」

It was like he was just playing around. Mariela could do nothing  while being straddled. Some kind of skill might be in use. The short  sword stabbed her many times after she got pushed down, then she burst  into red light.

「Ponsuke, sorr――」

Mariela vanished from getting stabbed in her shoulder, chest, and  face by the short sword. Ponsuke could only watch that happened.

The remaining two players got in the way so Ponsuke couldn’t interrupt.

He looked at the weapons that they used.

The weapons had ominous appearance. It felt like they had some kind of special effect.

(Level 60? These guys, are they high level players who came back here from somewhere?)

He imagined that they were high level players who were put under level restriction, just like his friend Rook.

But unlike Rook they weren’t here to help out beginner. They were  nasty players who went out of their way to come here just to harass low  level player.

One of them laughed.

「She called him Ponsuke! Lameee. This time slot is really filled with so many wimps yeah.」

The players kept making fun of them since some time ago.

This wasn’t at the level of lacking manner anymore.

They had no intention to have manner from the start.

Ponsuke thought.

(Not only they’re higher leveled, all their equipments are also from  better place. Is the gap from level difference and equipment quality  really this wide?)

Then Ponsuke felt intense pain from his back.

「Kuh!」

He turned around while swinging his large shield at the same time.  The player with great sword was standing there. He blocked the large  shield with his great sword, and then he made a loathsome expression.

「What’s with this guy. He’s tough.」

Orc race was plainly tougher than other races like human or elf.  Because of that he couldn’t be easily killed by these players before  him.

But, the damage that they inflicted to him was still far greater than any other players until now.

「You guys!」

When Ponsuke realized, the horses that Alfie and Mariela rented had  run off. Only the donkey was watching to over here from a moderate  distance that wasn’t too far or too close.

One player took out a gun and shot at Ponsuke.

「Guh!」

His leg was shot through and he fell on one knee from the pain. Then a player with two one-handed swords attacked.

He slashed at Ponsuke rapidly. He blocked with his shield but the damage still went through.

「What the hell, this ain’t no different than monster hunting. You  know the heated fight between players? I wanna do that kinda thing.」

The enemy player said that with a fed up look. Ponsuke took out a flask from his item box and tossed it.

「Ha? Hot!」

It hit the player with the great sword. Flame enveloped him and he writhed.

His friends only watched while laughing. They didn’t try to help him.

「Uwah, lame!」

「He got turned into fire pillar from cheap item!」

「That’s pathetic man~」

The fire immediately vanished, but the enemy player couldn’t hold back his anger and kicked hard at Ponsuke.

Ponsuke was sent flying and fell on the ground.

(My HP is almost gone……I even got bad status.)

His body was paralyzed and couldn’t move. The four players ignored Ponsuke and started leaving.

「Tsk! C’mon, we’re going hunting for the surviving small fry.」

「What’re we gonna do?」

The great sword user grinned and answered.

「We’re gonna kill her a ton until she become level 1. She won’t dare  coming back to this game ever again after that. We’re gonna make her cry  and scream……but we’re not gonna stop even then. Won’t that be the  best?」

The other players agreed and headed toward the city. Ponsuke couldn’t do anything to them while that was going on.

(Na……Nanako-chan)

The malicious players were going to make Nanako into level 1 from death penalty and traumatized her.

Ponsuke could do nothing except watching them until they vanished from his sight.

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