Chapter 136: Opportunity, Pity and Stupidity Part 1

Let’s go back in time a few minutes.

Since the start of this game, there were seven monsters that stood atop all other when it comes to power, called Unique Monsters. And even though Akitsu Akane wasn’t able to do much except for supporting in that last battle, he was still a member of the group that managed to defeat Night Prowler Luukan.

「Whoa…… So that’s the pioneer’s boat! It’s so big! It looks almost like an exotic cruise ship!]

「When you put it that way that sounds about right……]

Unlike Sanraku who wanted to go back to Rabbitz right away and Saiga-0 who stayed in town because there was a Guild safehouse on the premise, Akitsu Akane decided to stay in Fifthsia purely because he had nothing better to do and wanted to do some sightseeing.

Many NPCs kept on sending strange gazes towards them, but from the players perspective that was hardly anything new. As far as they were concerned, there could have been just the stares of people wondering about their peculiar equipment.

Only the strongest of the players or the most skilled, like Sanraku or Akitsu Akane, could reach Fifthsia in such short amount of time, so it was only natural that only the strongest would appear here, and it was only natural to want to check out what there equipment was.

「Whoa, that’s amazing……! Check out these fish skewers! Have a bite yourself! They are surprisingly light and delicious!]

Even though it could have been considered as rude behavior, the sheer happiness and joy seeping from behind the mask seemed to have reached the stall owner and he looked satisfied with someone praising his product so much. Apparently Akitsu Akane was someone who always took things at face value and never doubted things he saw, enjoying the game in the purest sense of the word. Then camouflaged Sickle spoke in a hushed voice, as to not be heard by anyone around them.

「You could at least pretend to try not to draw so much attention to yourself.]

「You know, I’ve never actually saw sea in real life, so seeing it like that in the game for the first time is really cool!]

「In game? What does that even mean…… Akitsu Akane-dono, there are times when I simply don’t understand the things you are saying.]

「Is that so? But Sanraku-san and Emul-chan talk like that rather frequently, don’t you think?]

「Emul was always a little bit specific, to say the least, and seeing how well he gets along with that guy, the two of them must be roughly the same.]

Being Weissash’s child, it was unusual for a Vorpal Bunny to get along with a human so well. Or maybe it was that when he was with Sanraku, Emul could finally act like himself? It was really hard to tell.

Virtual reality…… Even though it was just a game, ShangriLa Frontier was erasing the boundaries of what was known as game and as reality. The liveliness of the harbor, the salty scent of the sea, its glitter and the morning sun which was shining on it all…… No matter what other may think, for Akitsu Akane all of those things were real, existing right here and right now.

Just then, a fairly innocent window of text appeared right in front of Akitsu Akane.

「WOUL YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT THE UNIQUE QUEST “PUNCHING THE APOSTLE OF THE ABYSS?]

「He? But why?]

Unique Quest, he understood well the meaning of those words. Long story short, it was a very rare mission with many hardships to overcome and many great rewards to be claimed…… but why was it offered to him just like that? The only thing that Akitsu Akane knew was that quest like that were usually given to those who accomplish great things.

That definition was not wrong. Because Unique Quests were fundamentally different from normal quest, a fact that every NPC would even know. For example, showing your fighting spirit to the Night Prowler, or adoring yourself in the scales of the Emperor of the Sky, or to reach the very ends of this world…… There were many different variations. That is why it was simply unheard of that one of those would be given to someone just for some simple sightseeing. So why would it appear before Akitsu Akane just now? Saiga-0 couldn’t wrap her head around it no matter how hard she tried.

But the answer was surprisingly simple. For in this game the term “party” was rather loose and open to interpretation. If the leader was presented with the Unique Quest, the same window would appear in front of the other party members, no matter where they were or what they were doing…… Of course, there was always the right to veto the quest, but as long as the main leader could accept it, so could his party members.

And normally the party formed to defeat Luukan and capture the rest of the dungeon would have been disbanded after reaching Fifthsia, but apparently Sanraku was too busy with things he wanted to do, so he forgot to do just that. So even if the leader and the party members technically went their separate ways for now, they were still acting like a normal party, hence the pop up of this here new quest. All because of a little carelessness.

「Hmm…… I’m not too sure about this one, but is sounds like fun, so what the hell! Let’s take it!]

Akitsu Akane gave it some thought and reached about the same conclusion, but he still chose to accept the quest either way.

Basically, there are two kinds of people in the world. The people who instantly send spam mails into the trash can where they belong, and the ones who tend to genuinely respond to them. And when it comes to Akitsu Akane, he surely was of the latter category. So he pressed “YES” button without any hesitation and after he did just that, a literal swarm of some macho men appeared, throwing him and Sickle inside of a huge barrel and taking them away somewhere.