「Well…… I should go back…」
Sally muttered within the fluttering red effects and player dying effects.
If the attacking effects in this game were gushing out blood, her beautiful blue equipments were probably dyed with red.
The massacre act that was doubted as a randomly appearing cleaner-type boss after the event has ended.
It is because Sally has found two medals.
「As I’ve thought; there are only a few people who have them… I guess we were just lucky」
Evening is nearing.
It has been five hours of moving and fighting.
From far away, the mountain where Maple is could be seen, illuminated by the setting sun.
That is probably already 10 kilometers away.
Sally has defeated more than a hundred players.
But even so, she only obtained two medals.
Just like Sally has said, the two girls were lucky.
They have the strength to clear the dungeons that have yet to be found, and that was what separated them from other players.
「I should take it back properly」
Sally started to run.
The players that she met along the way turned into light and dissipated, but that was something inevitable.
「Yosh! I’m here!」
Sally immediately entered the cave.
She remembers the way, so she hurried to where Maple is, but stopped halfway.
「Uwwa……」
A wall of poison was made in the passage that connects to where Maple is.
Even if it were destroyed, those who destroyed it wouldn’t be able to advance, since the floor and wall would only be full of poison.
「Maple huh… I should send her a message…」
After a while since she sent a message to Maple, Maple passed through the wall of poison.
「I got the medals」
「Ohh! Amazing!」
Sally passed the medals to Maple.
With this, the two of them has 20 medals.
They only need to protect them.
「What would you like to do? I think it’s good to raise our two pets too」
「Ah! I know! I wanted to say something about that!」
「What?」
「Follow me!」
「No… that’s impossible though…」
Passing through a passage full of poison was something impossible for Sally.
「n〜… then, ride my shield?」
Maple deactivated the Poison Capsule making the wall of poison disappear, then placed her large shield on the ground.
「I’ll get on, but what will you do?」
Sally got on the large shield. It was just like riding a sled.
「I’ll do my best to push」
「Eh?」
「I’ll do my best to push」
「Isn’t that too hard?」
「I can do it!」
Maple did her best to push.
She stopped after the large shield moved for about 50cm.
「……I can’t」
「Un, I thought so. And then? What did you want to say again? I want to hear that first」
「Ahh, e〜to… there’s a room in another dead end different to where I was earlier, and a 20cm sized ant monster came out from there, but they’re weak, so I thought they’re just enough for Syrup and Oboro!」
The two girls have not explored the cave properly, so they did not notice at first.
Maple had been bored, so she was able to find it when she went for a walk after she finished applying poison.
「Is it continuous?」
Sally asked.
She thought that it might be a good place to level up their pets if monsters would spawn endlessly.
「There’s 3 monsters appearing every 10 minutes!」
「If so… I’m sorry, but can Maple do it herself? I don’t feel I can get there…」
「I got it! I’ll do my best okay!」
Sally got off the large shield and Maple re-equipped it and went deeper into the cave.
「U〜n, I don’t have anything to do」
For the meantime, Sally decided to go back.
It was not like the whole cave was covered with poison, but at least a third of it was.
After going towards the entrance for a bit, Sally sat down when she reached a hall.
It is a square room with 20 meters on each side, and the walls are also decorated.
Sally thought that it might be originally a mid-boss room.
「I’ll protect Maple」
This is not a dungeon where one can use a magic circle to teleport.
Since the dungeon was already cleared, there was fewer monsters spawning.
Just like Maple has said, there are only a few places where there are still monsters.
Although, Sally only knew about a few places.
If so, what would Sally protect Maple from?
That is, she would protect her from players.
Right now, there are only a few dungeons remaining. If players found a dungeon-looking place, there is no doubt that they would enter to look for medals.
「It’ll be the end if there’s someone who has【Poison Nullification】after all」
Right now, Maple cannot defeat players who have【Poison Nullification】.
Since Sally does not have anything else to do, she thought of protecting Maple to be sure.
「This place is also… a dungeon-like place too…」
There is Maple as the boss, Sally as the mid-boss, and there is a whopping reward of 20 medals.
There are almost no monsters as well.
It is a very alluring dungeon.
「I need to protect this place until the sixth day ends……」
If they reached the 7th day, the cooldowns that weaken Maple would disappear.
As long as Sally endure up to that, Maple would revive.
「Thinking of that… it’s like Maple is a Demon God waiting for revival or something……」
Sally thought that since there are many players around this area, the exploration of the other side of the mountainous region must have mostly ended.
「I wonder if they’d come here if they finish exploring over there?」
Sally waited for a while, and she heard someone talking from the passage ahead.
「There’s something!」
It was a four-man group holding their weapons that entered the hall.
Sally quickly checked their weapons.
Spear, Large Shield, Staff, Large Sword.
They are probably a regular party, their party balance is quite good.
「Why have you come here?」
「You’re… a player… right?」
They couldn’t be blamed to have doubts, seeing a well-equipped girl staying in a really boss room-looking place.
Her HP Bar can be seen, but that is no different from a monster.
If Sally says she’s a monster, then Sally is a monster.
「Fight?」
Even if Sally reveals that she is a player, they will fight still, since they need to get her medals. And even if Sally says she does not have any, they would not believe her.
Also, if these four who are planning to explore deeper were ignored, they would reach the poison passage that Maple made.
There is no doubt that they would think that this is an un-cleared dungeon if they saw that.
It would be the end if they were able to pass through the poison passage.
Defeating them is the safest.
If so, it would be more interesting acting like a monster, or at least, that was Sally thought.
To do that, she answered with a fixed sentence.
「It looks like… we’d hit the jackpot!」
The party of four completely thought that Sally is a mid-boss, and believed that this was a dungeon that was yet to be explored.
「I just hope it’ll be a good fight」
Fishes clad with blue light appeared around Sally.
The reason why Sally acted like a monster.
It was because she was still excited after finishing a massacre.
She could not help but want to fight a little more.
If they think that she is a monster, they will battle without a doubt. Her opponent would show their best as well.
Since she would need to defeat them in the end, she wanted to do it in a fun way.
For Sally, having fun is what a game is all about.
「Fufufu… this is really fun」
「Be careful! Let’s go!」
「「「Yeah!」」」
For people playing games, there is no doubt that they are asking for pleasure different from reality.
Both Sally and the group of four players were not an exception.
Changing places, Maple lied around in a room and cheered after Syrup and Oboro.
「【Bite】! Go〜! Do your best! 【Fox Fire】!」
Sally smiled pleasantly seeing the ants getting defeated.
「That’s great〜! That’s great! Do your best to level up okay!」
Maple stood up and patted the two.
It would be a scene of a girl being friends with animals if Maple were not wearing full equips.
That was a commonly seen scene in the real world.
Maple was completely clueless that Sally was fighting.
Maybe, Maple was a type of player that is an exception.