Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 4

Area Boss

It was all grassland at the surrounding as far as eye could see.

Four adventurers were fighting against a brown mammoth in that place.

The area boss “Brown Mammoth” was a monster that wandered through a wide area and attacked when it found adventurer.

It was an atrocious existence that cornered beginners into annihilation while they were leveling up and gathering drop item.

Ponsuke’s party surrounded the Brown Mammoth.

「This is totally impossible!」

Ponsuke yelled from right in front of the mammoth.

「Shut up! You’re an orc so do your best! Come on, take this!」

Rook lifted his left hand and used a buff――a magic for improving ability. It increased Ponsuke’s status.

But Rook was restricted into level 10. The status improvement that he gave wasn’t that considerable.

「FUCKKKKKKK!」

Ponsuke became desperate and slashed the mammoth. Rook and Alfie launched their attack from both sides.

Right after that Ponsuke got blown away from the mammoth’s charge.

「Fugyah!」

The orc rolled unsightly on the grassland.

「Got you!」

「Match your timing!」

「Me too!」

They ignored Ponsuke’s situation. Mariela who was standing at slight  distance away also readied her bow and started a team attack.

Rook was high human, a race that was the superior version of human.  He swung his lead colored great sword in a big arc and damaged the  mammoth.

He didn’t stop swinging and use the momentum to launch a second attack.

Next Alfie swung her one-handed sword before adding one more attack  with a returning swing. She could attack twice thanks to the effect of  her paid weapon.

Last an arrow pierced the mammoth.

A word of 【Combo!!】 popped out above the mammoth. The total damage was also added with the extra damage.

Ponsuke staggered back to his feet. He used healing item while yelling.

「You guys actually don’t need me!」

Ponsuke sulked. In respond Rook talked to him soothingly. At the same  time he observed the mammoth’s movement while checking the time  remaining until he could use his skill again……he was sending glances at  Ponsuke while,

「We can fight because we have you as our tank. Look, I’ll buff you with magic one more time so 」do your best and charge!

The mammoth was changing its direction away from Ponsuke. It would be dangerous if it charged toward someone else.

Rook and Alfie could endure one attack from the mammoth. However any  more than that was impossible. As for Mariela, a single attack could  kill her.

It was only natural for Ponsuke who didn’t have any attack method that was worth noting to be the bait.

「I definitely won’t forget this grudge! Shield Bashhh!」

Ponsuke punched the mammoth with his left arm. When he got its attention, he looked at its eyes.

The red eyes were looking down on Ponsuke.

(The pressure……)

Unlike normal game, the intensity of VR game was approaching the  actual thing. In other words if the enemy was a giant, looking at it  from nearby would also cause fear.

Ponsuke’s movement stiffened. Rook yelled at him.

「Stupid, move! If you just freeze there――」

The mammoth lowered its head before lifting its powerfully.  Accompanying that movement, its fangs gouged the ground while  approaching Ponsuke. It stabbed him and lifted him up――and sent him  flying.

(E-eh?)

He didn’t feel any pain.

No, the pain came later and assaulted his senses fiercely. Then his body hit the ground.

A hard blow hit him while he let his guard down. The damage from it  was incomparable from before. His full HP abruptly entered red zone……he  was just a step away from death.

「You stupid idiot! Even a player can be hit with critical if they let their guard down! Guard against it at the very least!」

The system judged the attack as critical hit because he got scared and didn’t guard against the attack.

「S-sorry……kuh!」

He stood up and used healing item, but meanwhile Rook was under  attack by the mammoth. He used his great sword as shield while the  mammoth charged at him just like with Ponsuke.

But Rook guarded with his great sword and parried the charge by deflecting it.

However Rook’s expression was bitter.

「The damage because of the level difference-」

Mariela fired an arrow. It stabbed the side of the mammoth. She had  been attacking over and over since some time ago, but there wasn’t any  sign that it was doing anything to the enemy.

「Can we really defeat this thing?」

Mariela felt uneasy with the remaining number of her arrow and muttered so. Alfie rushed at the mammoth and slashed.

The damage she dealt was great thanks to her paid weapon.

It was great but, it still wasn’t enough.

(The level difference is too big.)

This area boss had been spreading terror to the adventurers leveling  up and gathering materials in this area――it didn’t look like it could be  defeated so easily.

Then Alfie got hit by the mammoth’s nose and she was sent flying.

Unlike with an orc, her petite body was sent flying until nearly ten meters.

And then an arrow stabbed the mammoth in that bad timing.

Rook healed himself and applied magic on Ponsuke.

「Crap, Mariela-san」

Their formation would crumble instantly if Mariela died here. That was because team attack couldn’t be done with three people.

Mariela panicked. She tried to change spot, but the mammoth kicked on  the ground and dashed. It was doubtful whether Mariela would be able to  get away or not with how fast it was going.

Ponsuke sprinted.

「All of my hard works……will be in vain if we die hereee!!」

Ponsuke had gotten thrown into the middle of monsters.

If he lost here and returned with death penalty and its demerits  added on top of that, almost all of his hardships until now would be  rendered pointless.

He ran toward the mammoth and slashed it with the one-handed sword in his right hand.

The damage was small because he only touched it a little. But that was enough to make the mammoth changed its target.

The mammoth turned around and slapped Ponsuke with its large nose.

Ponsuke blocked it with the buckler on his left hand and received  damage. The damage rattled his whole body until his bones……he endured it  but, the wound sent him to his knee.

「B-bastard……」

The nose slapped him through and he fell on the ground. Rook yelled.

「We’re ready! Both of you, match your timing just like before!」

「Leave it to me.」

「No need to tell me!」

Alfie finished healing herself and Mariela also held her bow at the ready.

The team attack activated and generated combo. The mammoth was hit by it and crouched down on the spot.

Ponsuke got back on his feet and took some distance away. He used item to recover his HP and readied his weapon again.

(Shit! We’re damaging it but, we’ll run out of item before we win. We’ll lose at this rate……I don’t want to lose.)

He didn’t want to lose.

Just as he thought that.

Strength flowed out from inside his body……no, strangely it felt like  he became used to his body. His orc body in the end was just a data. It  felt like he became familiar with his digital body and the surrounding  scenery became strangely more vivid.

It was a sensation of immersing even deeper into the world. It bewildered Ponsuke.

(What?)

Then he heard a yell.

「Ponsuke, it’s coming toward you!」

The mammoth fixed its aim at Ponsuke who didn’t attack it.

Ponsuke hit the mammoth with Shield Bash.

He took a large step forward and twisted his waist to add its  momentum into his attack. The strike crashed on the head of the charging  mammoth.

「It stopped?」

Mariela whispered as though she had seen something unbelievable. Alfie raised her sword.

「Anyway this is our chance!」

Rook looked slightly surprised. Even so he laughed a little while giving a meaningful look at Ponsuke.

「Great job Ponsuke! That’s how to fight!」

Ponsuke didn’t need to be told. He moved his body as though he knew the way to fight.

(Hit its nose with my sword――)

He slashed the nose that was swinging around with his one-handed  sword. The mammoth roared in pain while lifting up its front legs.

「Crap――」

Rook yelled to everyone to dodge, but Ponsuke had jumped to the side even before that.

(Right here――)

He slipped in and his one-handed sword thrust between the mammoth’s ribs.

The letters of CRITICAL popped out. It also canceled the mammoth’s  movement from slamming its feet on the ground and launching wide area  attack to the surrounding.

Ponsuke rolled away to the side to get out from under the mammoth, and then he slashed.

Rook had already supported him with magic when he noticed.

(I can feel the status improvement on my skin. What……what’s going on……)

He hit the mammoth with Shield Bash. And then he slashed with his sword while it was flinching.

Rook and Alfie kept slashing at the mammoth from the sides. They were steadily dealing damage on it.

And then Ponsuke raised his left arm high to the air――.

「Shield……BASHHH!!」

Rook, Alfie, and Mariela were also attacking, aiming for the combo. Just as they planned, it activated.

Then the word [Combo] popped out.

Their friendship meter had gone up through the battle and Ponsuke too became able to join the teamwork.

「This is……the end!」

Rook was convinced of their victory seeing the teamwork that  activated from the cooperation of the four of them. He jumped and  slashed down from overhead. It dealt an unprecedented damage to the  mammoth.

「That was close. Well, I have spare though.」

Alfie’s paid weapon broke into pieces of blue light after she finished slashing. But she immediately took out her spare weapon.

「Thank god it’s over. I only have several arrows left.」

Mariela also checked her quiver after firing her arrow. She was feeling relieved.

In front of them the mammoth lifted its front legs while writhing. Red lights floated off from its body while it was vanishing.

Ponsuke watched that scene while falling on his knee.

(I’m suddenly feeling tired……to think that playing game will tire me this much.)

He felt a heavy fatigue. Also his senses had stopped being as sharp as before.

What was that?

Rook approached Ponsuke while he was thinking that.

「We did it. The beginner quest is over with this. We only need to go back and give a report now.」

Ponsuke wanted to talk to Rook about the strange sensation……but he shook his head and stopped.

*

The Capital of Hope.

The party headed toward the adventurer guild’s counter to report about the success of their beginner quest.

The receptionist lady was a different NPC from the one who gave them the quest.

「Yes. I have certainly confirmed that the quest is completed.  Congratulations. With this the three of you are a full-fledged  adventurer now.」

(It doesn’t sound convincing calling us fully-fledged when we had  only just finished some errands……well, that was really tiring.)

And then the receptionist lady looked slightly surprised.

Rook was grinning.

「Aa, there’s the extra reward from defeating the area boss. The NPC’s acting for that is a bit exaggerated.」

(Still, even the NPC is really well made.)

The receptionist started praising Ponsuke and others in a fluster.

「I have confirmed the defeat of the area boss, the Brown Mammoth. It  was a very dangerous monster. I’m amazed that everyone managed to  survive and defeat it. The adventurer guild shall give you a special  reward for this accomplishment.」

Alfie tilted her head.

「We can receive reward from defeating the area boss?」

Rook shrugged. He talked about the setting inside the game.

「The field boss and area boss……well, all the boss type monsters are  basically dangerous monsters that have standing quest for elimination.  You can get reward for it when reporting to the receptionist. Aa, you  can split the reward and drop items just between you three.」

Mariela looked at Rook with a complicated expression.

「You mean that just this much reward isn’t worth it for you?」

Rook shook his head.

「Well, I won’t deny that but, it’s more that I already receive  something even greater than that. Actually that was my first time  killing that area boss. Thanks to that I got some job point and skill  point. So getting anymore than that will make me feel bad.」

(So you can get additional point other than when leveling up by  defeating field boss and area boss……come to think of it, I’m already  level 7 now.)

The game’s mechanic made it so that it was easy to reach level 30.  But Rook said that it was also amazing to level up this much in their  first day of login.

It reminded Ponsuke of something.

「That’s right. I got to split the rewards.」

*

Alfie and Mariela didn’t try to ask for the area boss’s drop item――the Mammoth’s Skin.

The armor that could be made from the skin would have excellent  parameter. It had several resistances and there was also demand for it  among the beginner players.

But, there was a problem with the  equipment that could be created from this Mammoth’s Skin.

「The design is a bit……」

Alfie said that and refused to accept the item.

「I think I prefer the money. My bow and arrows are in dire strait.」

Because of that it was Ponsuke who ended up taking the Mammoth’s Skin.

Some of Ponsuke’s equipments had also been ruined, so he would create armor with the skin while also replacing his equipments.

Wearing the vest that was created from the skin caused his look as a savage orc to become even more striking.

*

They used the inn and then the morning came. Alfie and Mariela left the party and logged out.

Their play time was two days inside the game.

They could only play again after a day had passed in the real world.

Ponsuke was talking with Rook.

「I had more fun that I expected. I’ll continue playing it for a while.」

Rook looked happy to hear that.

「I’m glad if you enjoy it. After all I felt guilty that it was like I was forcing you to go along with my whim.」

Ponsuke doubted whether Rook was really thinking so, but Rook asked a strange question next.

「Come to think of it……have you ever felt like you’re getting even more immersed inside this game world?」

Ponsuke put his hand on his chin and recalled back.

「Hmm, there was this weird feeling just for a bit. It was like I  suddenly got strangely composed in the middle of battle. It made me  understand how I should move……」

Rook smiled.

「I see. Then you might have a good affinity with this game. Oops, it’s also time for me so I’ll logout. Ah, that’s right.」

Rook seemed to recall something and advised Ponsuke.

「Don’t forget to assign the points you got from level up properly  next time. Also, this is an advice from me. Take a combat lesson. Just  having it will be useful even if you never use it.」

「Yeah, I got it.」

Rook vanished after Ponsuke said that.

Ponsuke also ran out of time so he logout from the game.

*

At the real world.

Ponsuke――Akito opened his eyes and removed the headset. He sat up on the bed.

The hands of the alarm clock on his bed was pointing at seven o’clock.

Akito stretched and got out of bed. Then he prepared to go to school.

「Two days in the virtual world are only two hours in the real world. It’s amazing.」

The VR machine for business use that Riku brought here was placed at  the corner of the room. Its size was like the desktop computer for  gaming……but a size larger than that.

It was just a little bit too big for a single apartment.

Akito took a jelly that he bought for breakfast from his refrigerator and ate it. The taste made him frowned.

「Eh? Does it always taste like this?」

The jelly had a flavor that he liked before this, but now it just felt strange to him.

「Well, doesn’t matter.」

He changed into his uniform, took his bag, and let the room. He felt  the wind blowing when he got outside. The wind was slightly damp with  various smells mixed in together in it.

It felt different from the wind inside the game. It reminded him once more that he was in the real world.

「Now then, let’s work hard again today. Even so, I wonder what should I do tomorrow.」

Should he keep playing the game as an orc? Or should he remake his avatar?

Akito headed toward his school while pondering that.

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