The two things had a fair bit in common. They had high offensive power, high mobility, put burden on the user's body, had no defensive power, were hard to use---and both of them absolutely wrecked a labyrinth's budget.
I wanted as much mobility and offensive power as I could possibly get. It'd be indispensable if I were to face at least 30 or so armed soldiers alone, not to mention the metal giants... I needed offensive power to destroy those Extended Knight Armors.
I could do much about the budget problem. If a labyrinth manager was going to battle directly, you'd think that they'd place defense power and survivability at the highest of priorities, but neither of the two gave any of that, so I had nothing to worry about in that front.
If I wanted more defense while maintaining performance, the price spiked up more than five times. It wasn't like it wasn't worth it... I just didn't have the money.
---The problem is the budget. I'd like to buy both the sword and the Comet, but the total amount goes up to 25 million DL... I'd probably have to attach a firearm and flight unit as well... If I don't have the flying unit, I won't be able to take it out of this ravine.
The stairs were about two meters wide and were barely big enough for people to go up and down.
The sword may have been usable normally, but the fact its toll on the body was so high made me kinda unsure I wanted to rely on it completely. I had stamina potions, but I doubted I'd be able to recover if I ran out of steam, or one of my muscles snapped in the middle of a battle.
Since the money I had in the labyrinth right now was only about 15 million DL, I started looking for things I could cash out in the delivery box to get to the desired amount. But after living here for some months, I knew there was nothing valuable enough outside that'd give me the money right now... Or so I thought, until my eyes laid on a certain amber room decoration inside of the cabin.
The pretty waterdry amber I'd been picking up as of late. I didn't give them much mind because it was rare to even see money back in Milt Village, but amber was a precious stone. Could it be worth something?
"I can always collect more of them again... I need as much money as I can get, even if it's just a little more..."
The waterdry amber pieces within the glass container rattled around as I placed it inside the delivery box and closed the lid. It was a bit frustrating to do, but as long as I still breathed, I could get more.
I heard the usual sound of coins falling, and when I opened the lid I saw something I'd never seen before---a rainbow-colored silver coin with an incredible luster. The engraving said "10000000 DarkLord Coin"...?
There were two rainbow-colored coins that were about the size of a 500 yen coin, and one golden 5 million DL coin, and a few coins of other denominations that seemed to be leftover change. In the end everything was worth about 28 million DL. I wasn't expecting to get such a huge amount of money.
---That was quite the decoration for a cheap cabin like this, huh? Was it that good of a decoration to stuff all of them in that glass container?
That was quite an unexpected surplus of money, but I could prepare both the Comet and the sword with it. I thought that the Comet alone might be good enough for the job, but when something this important was on the line, I didn't want to hold anything back.
I ordered the Comet, the flight and firearms units, which were sold separately, and the cursed sword from Tundra's eShop. I put the coins I'd got before along with all the savings so far inside the piggy bank.
Since my savings were arranged in 10000 DL coins, it was a bit of a problem to move them all at once. Perhaps it was because the amount to pay was incredibly high this time around, but the back of the piggy's back spread out like a funnel to facilitate the insertion of money, making the payment far easier.
"Thank you very much, we appreciate your continued support! Bring it in, boys! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
This time it wasn't the usual carefree part-timer looking dude that usually appeared. Instead, it was a relatively older-looking, polite gentleman. Maybe the full-time employees came to say 'hi' when the purchases were big enough?
I heard a certain rumbling noise, and then... the door that appeared out of nowhere expanded greatly to give way to a giant cardboard box. The immense weight of the item made the soft earth sink slightly. I wondered if Tundra had a bit of an obsession about delivering things using cardboard boxes... The cardboard box the Comet seemed to be inside of didn't lose its size to the cabin we'd been living in this whole time.
"It'll be a hassle to unbox this one..."
Then out came a long and thin box with a sticker that said "Dangerous Goods". It was probably the cursed sword. The expanded door of sorts finally closed down afterwards.
"Good day! Thank you for choosing us!"
---Oh, the usual guy came too after all? That's kind of a relief.
I took apart the cardboard box and found the Comet already came assembled with the extra parts I'd ordered. I guess it was supposed to be operational as soon as you took it out of the packaging.
---I'm glad I don't have to assemble it... I wonder if it arrives finished because it's a golem.
I took the demon sword in one hand, an instruction sheet the size of an A3 paper in the other, and opened the Comet's chest cavity. I put the cursed sword inside the storage space and got inside. The chest armor opened and closed with a lever mechanism. Instead of going inside a robot, it was more like one giant set of armor you wore. The maker knew what he was doing with this, huh? Someone, somewhere probably got ripped off.
"The model is apparently a 'Fantasy Golem', how much did he remodel this?"
The wine red and black coated Comet was curvy and streamline in shape, but it also had a sci-fi feel to it as well. I'd like to stare at it a little more if I had the time.
I boarded the Comet and my body and limbs were fixed in place. At the end of my hand were a set of joysticks with buttons for each of my fingertips; there was also a foot pedal that got triggered by my ankle. It seemed the harnesses that held my body in place also had a motion sensor.
---This layout and piloting setup gives me so much nostalgia that it... Yeah, I see how this is a good match for me.
The switches on the tip of the joysticks had a certain hardness that made me think they were spring powered. I tried to confirm it with the tip of my fingertips, and... it was roughly the same as I remembered from normal joysticks.
You didn't see that many of them these days, but there used to be a really popular robot battle game that used a huge cabinet called "Master Arms" that had this kind of layout. It was quite the wallet slayer as it would cost 800 yen per play. It added up fast due to the fact that beginners needed to repeat the tutorial stage about 20 times before they could get a hang of the movement. The amount of freedom it gave, and the level of difficulty it had, made it quite popular.
---If this thing is anything like Master Arms, I think I'll get used to it pretty quick.
"Hah, I might even meet this golem's creator in a battlefield, somewhere."
I went through the startup procedure by repeatedly pressing the foot pedal and the finger buttons.
I was a sucker for sim games with cockpits. I was so obsessed that I got a part-time job solely to dump money into them. I played so much that I ended up being in the Top 20 ranking for the Kanto region.
Between the shape and weight of the joystick, the button layout felt a little out of place. It was basically the same kind of thing though, so I should be good to go. Master Arms used retinal projection to display stuff, but I didn't know how images were being projected in the Comet. A mix of English and Japanese letters flowed along on the internal gray armor plate, like it was beginning some sort of start up sequence... Then a screen popped up that said "Sugawara Heavy Industries".
---Is this really a golem? It even has a startup logo! The guy that made this really is something else.
"Based on... 'Master Arms Ver.2.4'? That's not even the latest version. They updated it like half a year ago.
"
It appeared that a robot maniac had managed to become a labyrinth manager and was going pretty hard at it. But thanks to him, I could avoid charging in headfirst with only a sword, so I was grateful nonetheless.
Most of the launch settings of the Comet were automatically set. There was a pair of wings with jet engines attached to them that was probably the flight unit, which was sold separately. Also attached was the firearms unit, which consisted of a huge rifle with a revolver magazine, that clashed with this whole fantasy world we were in.
Impatience started stirring within my heart as night began to creep in. If I got too hasty I probably would crash headfirst into the rocks and die. That wouldn't be all that great of a climax, would it? I fought off the urge to just get going as I waited for the progress bar to complete.
"No abnormalities in the various check sequences, and the optional parts are functioning properly. The assortment of gauges based on Master Arms is nice to see."
The monitor displayed the word "READY" and locked the joints, allowing for the Comet to slowly start moving.
When I first came to this world, it was a survival game where I searched for food and water. And ever since Ann came into my life, I enjoyed interacting with her, living together and making things, like in a crafting adventure game. When the horsemen chased after me, it was like an action game where one wrong move could end my life.
But now... it was a PvP game, where I bet my life against another player's.
Hostile players came and disrupted what was once a peaceful game. Everything changed into a completely different mode: one where you had to fight with the intent of killing another.
I still remembered the first time I played a game with other people. Yes, the first game in which I fought other players went offline a long time ago, but it was still a famous old MMORPG. Back then, I wasn't prepared at all. I got lured out of the safe zone and was ganked immediately; I just laid there, shocked at being attacked. I still remembered the tension and excitement of being assaulted by people with ill intent, and how wet my mouse got from my sweaty palms.
Compared to then, my palms weren't sweaty now; and I was holding onto the Comet's joystick instead of a mouse. And besides my worry for Ann, Sara, and the other villagers, I was quite calm.
"Heh... I can't help but smile, huh?"
My mouth warped into a smile, unable to hide the hunger to fight.
---Violent games are a terrible influence for children...
That overused phrase came to mind, but I laughed it off.
I couldn't tell you if all the games I'd played in my life were a good or bad influence. But what I could say is that thanks to them, I was now able to face danger in order to save someone precious to me.
"Well, then... Let's enjoy life."
I stepped on the feet pedals lightly and the flight unit started up. A blush-white light poured out of the wings as the Comet rose into the air with a metallic sound.
◇
"This is more like riding a wild horse than I thought!"
I raced over a nearby wall at high speed with a gentle nudge of the joystick.
I tried to muster all the skills I had gained from playing Master Arms a long time ago. Lately there were less and less arcades that could take on the high maintenance cost, or the high cost of the cabinets themselves, so I was kind of rusty after not playing for a while. It didn't take long for my body adjust to it again, though.
No wonder the Tundra review page was filled with criticism. It was really hard to get a handle on how to maneuver it, as well as dealing with the response time. It was like raising your PC's mouse sensitivity two or three times. It wasn't outright unusable, but it definitely wasn't easy either.
I stopped the flight unit once I was out of the ravine. The power of gravity enacted and drove the decelerating Comet right into the ground with a heavy thud.
"(cough) Ugh! (cough)"
I may have been a gamer capable of piloting it, but my body wasn't used to the forces a real pilot went through. The impact I took from the landing sent me right into a coughing fit. Thank goodness I didn't have the chance to eat lunch at the village's market. I would've made a mess out of this thing if my stomach was full.
I really had the urge to just waste time to figure out how it moved and such. I took a deep breath to calm myself and maneuvered the left joystick... which caused the Comet to kick off the ground into the air. The parts attached to the back and leg portions of the machine made a high-pitched metallic sound as it created the propulsion to move, and I headed towards the village, halfway leaping through the air. A distance that would have taken me an hour by foot took less than ten minutes using the Comet.
"This robo--- No, this golem armor really is strange in more ways than one, huh?"
When I got to the hill where I could see the whole village from, I stopped. In the middle of the village were those Extended Knight Armors from before.
Thankfully the raiders hadn't left yet, if those Extended Knight Armors were any indication. I still couldn't understand how those lumps of scrap metal managed to even move. I observed them for a bit, waiting for steam to spew out of them like they were some sort of steampunk machine. My eyes eventually wandered to a spot near the neck of one of them. A metal tube roughly two meters in length protruded out of it. Judging from the position and size, I reckoned that was the cockpit. It made sense if you considered the safety of the pilot, I guess.
As far as I could tell, there were three sets of armor in the village square, with soldiers and bowmen in the village's entrance. Yeah. So flying all the way here was the Stage One, doing a surprise attack on the village's entrance would be Stage Two, and eliminating the Extended Knight Armors in the village square would be the Final Stage.
There was no guarantee I had a happy ending waiting for me once I cleared all three stages, but I didn't really have the time to dwell on it.
"Alright... Let's get it on."
I grabbed the Comet's cylinder rifle firearm (sold separately) that cost 12 million DL from its holding spot at the waist. It looked like a futuristic, modern rifle but it seemed to shoot magic, as opposed to using some complicated firing mechanism. Not that it mattered how it worked. A gamer plays with whatever he's given. The lore maniacs can deal with all the principles, diagrams, and mechanical parts in their own time.
"So to prime it I have to do... this? And if I switch to 'Fire Mode' a reticle appears and... Huh?"
When I positioned the Comet's body sideways and held the rifle with one hand, a blue-colored magic square appeared at the tip of the rifle's barrel and a new pop up appeared in one corner of my field of view.
[3 Rounds Remaining. Optional Firearm Unit: Activated. Aim Adjustment Engaged. Corrections Will Complete After Two Rounds Are Fired.]
---Well, I guess I can't do much about the adjustment when it's the first time its starts up.
I breathed a heavy sigh. In short: the shots would go where I wanted them to after I'd fired twice.
Or so it said...
But I only had three rounds. Should I expect to only hit once...? Even though I paid so much money? I wondered if it was because the creator decided to make a damn rifle instead of something more like a fantasy game like a bow, or something. While I had more objections, I figured that if I could take out at least one of those Knight Armors with a shot, it would be worth the trouble, at least.
◇
The Daemon villagers were all gathered and handcuffed in the middle of the village's square. They were all tied together by the same rope in a straight line, waiting to get transported. The raiders were using a sturdy rope that had metallic threads braided into it, and they conducted themselves in a very organized manner, while the villagers looked miserable.
The humans that attacked the village were a raid party that came from one of the three human countries to the west of Daemon, but they weren't mere outlaws---they came looking for a commodity called... "Daemon Slaves".
And they'd gotten permissi
on from the country to stock up on them. They were mercenaries employed by a major slave dealer. Even among human nations, the treatment of Daemon people varied between them, but in this case the only thing they saw were 'beasts able for labor and capable of speech'.
And that was the treatment all Daemon citizens received.
That being said, the raiders didn't run amok on the village, wrecking it like barbarians. They weren't so bored as to do frivolous things that could lower their commercial value, even if they did consider Daemons as beasts.
"Next one, step forward."
A bearded mercenary wearing a grim expression, with his head crammed into a metal helmet, called for the next villager to be added to the chain of others. A well-dressed female kobold stepped forward...
"Hmm...? Pretty good-looking and well-dressed... Are you a Daemon from another village?"
The middle-aged soldier looked puzzled when he laid eyes upon the kobold. She was in stark contrast compared to the villagers that wore nothing but ragged, patched up old garments. The girl didn't answer as she was startled and quivered in fear.
"We were celebrating her becoming an adult today. Why did this have to happen...?"
Another female kobold close by had spoken up. In truth, that celebration had ended about a year ago, but even then, what they wore in celebration paled in comparison to the well-dressed kobold.
"I see... You got unlucky," the middle-aged mercenary grumbled. "This is why I hate hunting Daemons. Talking them down like this sickens me."
The man moved to his work, but a rumble that shook everyone to the core interrupted him.
"What is it!? What happened!?"
Among angry screams and shrieks, what was reflected in the eyes of the middle-aged mercenary was a red light coming from the west. The light pierced through one of the Extended Armors sitting in the middle of the village square. The upper half of the reliable and intimidating giant hell apart and crashed into the ground with an earth-shattering roar.
◇
A chill ran down my spine when the shot landed in the square... I completely understood the maker's intention now---he wanted to make a rifle that shot beams.
Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 1 Page 19