Translation: Charlotte
Editor: Weasalopes
I logged in at 4 am.
There were a lot of players from the night before.
It looked like all the players already there were the ones who logged out earlier
They were already trying to squeeze a few matches in before breakfast.
「G"morning.」
「Good morning.」
「Do your best in the tournament!」
A good number of people called out to me as I was walking about.
Nice.
I realised something in last night"s chat.
I should probably have more strategies up my sleeve.
I already had a lot of different equipment on me…
But I had to find ways to put that into practice.
I summoned part of my team for the tournament, and got ready to go into Battle Mode with them.
I summoned Volff, Jericho, Goki, and Senki.
Of course, I was planning on seriously fighting them.
I was just a bit nervous.
The【Instant Portal】was a bit cramped to do too many fights in.
While waiting for my turn to fight, I thought of the strategies I would try.
I realised something when I fought Volff.
Speed was not to be underestimated.
Being faster would let you counterattack and intercept attacks much easier.
It lowered the chance of getting hit by a spell too.
Even more so when it came to arrows.
My necklace was helping me do more damage with each attack too.
I prioritised fast attacks from the rear as always.
I could keep it that way.
My fight with Jericho ended the way I expected it to.
After Jericho turned back into solid form, I could only do damage using spells.
His movements were slow, but his defence was excellent.
And with offensive powers comparable to Yosaku"s.
Jericho couldn"t liquefy too often.
I had to watch out for that.
Goki had the freedom to choose between several battle styles.
That was what made Goki so difficult to counter.
I gave him a shield and a sword.
Hmm…
It certainly looked difficult to fight.
The one thing I realised was that most teams would have a support player in the back.
They were actually pretty important in keeping the front-line fighters alive.
I took on Senki with a more relaxed att.i.tude.
It was more of a friendly spar.
I removed my equipment and went in.
Of course, barehanded.
I had Rig, so I wouldn"t take any damage anyway, right?
I made use of punches, kicks, joint locks, and throws.
It was fun to use them so liberally again.
Hmm…
Afterwards, I spent some time checking my equipment.
The main thing I wanted to look at was my Staff of Torture.
And my Tonfas of Torture.
My Bracelets and Anklets of Torture.
My Bagh Nakh and my push daggers.
Ah.
What about that black rope…?
I realised there was some equipment I hadn"t used at all in the tournament.
Prominent teams would definitely get researched and countered.
That was definitely true.
And I had a feeling that counted for me as well.
Having a hidden trump card would be good.
I wrapped the Black Rope of Torture around my belt.
I tried holding the Bagh Nakh and push daggers in one hand.
Then I tried holding my belt again.
I made a knot out of the rope.
Tightened it.
Swung it around.
I could make a whip of sorts…
Maybe I could use it as a backup weapon?
I doubted it would ever come to that though.
「Good morning.」
「Morning!」
It was still 6 am.
Adele and Irina had just logged in.
They had just lost the day before, but they were still energetic.
「Time for breakfast!」
「What about you, Keith?」
「Yeah, alright.」
I recalled Jericho and summoned Bunraku.
I took out a desk and chairs, along with cooking utensils and ingredients from my《Item Box》.
I left cooking to Bunraku.
「Let"s get ready.」
「Huh?」
「Huh?」
「Would you two hang out with me for a while?」
I wanted to try using a normal rope before I moved on to the black rope.
I would love to have Adele and Irina be my sparring partners.
「A match?」
「A handicap! It"s going to be impossible for us without a handicap!」
「I"ll keep that in mind.」
I fought against Adele and her four Summon Monsters twice.
I fought against Irina and her four Summon Monsters twice.
And then once against both Adele and Irina and four Summon Monsters.
I only had Volff and Goki with me.
It was some nice exercise before breakfast.
《【Ropework】Level Up!》
「What is this? Some kind of sash?」
「Take it easy, Adele.」
She was pretty serious in hunting me down!
It was good practice though, so I wasn"t going to complain.
「What do you think of the rope?」
「It"s really good at tripping U-chan and Kuro-chan"s legs!」
「Calico was getting tangled a lot too… Not so much for Toggle though.」
「Are you going to use the rope in the main tournament?」
「It"s a trump card.」
Yep.
I had plans on using it in the tournament.
More specifically, as a way to keep my opponents in place.
Its downside was that I couldn"t use it unless both hands were free.
But it was a good trade-off.
「I think that"s a good idea.」
「How do you say it… Umm, it"s scary~」
Hmm?
What"s scary?
It sounded pretty bad.
「Make sure you don"t make any girls cry, alright?」
「That"s what I"m worried about~」
Hmm?
Girls?
I"m sure they were prepared for what would happen in a tournament…?
「Worried, huh…?」
「I have a feeling something is going to happen~」
「You have a track record, after all.」
Yep.
I knew what they were talking about.
But that case wasn"t really my fault…
「I"m not so worried about that, actually.」
「Really?」
「I can"t seem to stop worrying about it though.」
Hmm…
Don"t look at me with those eyes.
You"re making it seem like something is actually going to happen!
After breakfast, we got ready to start moving.
I summoned Volff, Zangetsu, Helix, Obsidian, and Heather.
「Well, let"s get going!」
「If you don"t have a horse ride with someone who does!」
At Haruna"s and Konohana"s signal, we started moving.
Hyodor was behind me on Zangetsu"s back.
I ignored the hostile gazes of the older sisters around me.
Summoner girls were pretty scary.
「Are you alright, Hyodor?」
「I"m just an all-receiver…」
An all-receiver?
I felt like I"d be better off not knowing what that meant.
The march to Remut continued quietly.
We kept moving at a slow pace.
No monsters were brave enough to attack.
Well, that was to be expected.
「We"ll break up here!」
「Spectator team, let"s go!」
「Good luck Keith!」
「We"ll be supporting you!」
「Win it for us Keith!」
We disbanded right outside of Remut.
I received several words of encouragement.
Thanks.
「I"ll definitely get a horse next!」
Hyodor stroked Zangetsu"s head and neck.
Yeah.
I would recommend everyone to summon a horse first.
「We"ll look for a seat…」
「We"re rooting for you~」
Adele and Irina switched up their Summon Monster teams and headed into the town.
Hmm.
I decided to switch up my Summon Monster team too.
Volff, Jericho, Rig, Senki, and Goki.
The usual.
「I"ll be watching you today.」
Margrid came by to tell me that.
「I"m hoping the finals will be between the Production Job player team and you.」
「Well, in that case, who are you going to support?」
「The Production Job players, of course.」
Huh…
Well I understood where she was coming from.
「Well, if it actually comes to that. Show me a good match okay?」
「I have a feeling you"re looking forward to me s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up somehow.」
「Ah, you read my mind. Something is bound to happen, after all.」
Margrid went into the town leaving me with that line.
Hmm…
I could just take it as them counting on me.
As soon as I reached the arena, I was sent to the waiting room.
I actually wanted to watch a few matches beforehand.
Luckily, a gap near the exit let me look over the whole field.
All the matches would be at the new training grounds.
The field was split into only four areas, one less than in the qualifiers.
The freed up s.p.a.ce was used to make more s.p.a.ce for spectators.
The arrangement of the seats was different too, allowing for more people to get seats.
The seats were about half full.
It was still really early.
When I returned to the waiting room, there were already a lot of other people getting ready.
It was eight teams, apparently.
I couldn"t recognise any of them.
They threw looks at one another.
But it didn"t look like they were willing to go as far as using【Identify】.
Some stares were thrown my way too.
There wasn"t anything I could really do about it.
My back started feeling a bit itchy.
「Well then, over here, please.」
The time was 8:30 am.
One team, led by a staff member, started moving towards the arena.
I wanted to go out and watch their match, but I was stopped at the entrance of the waiting room.
Tsk.
I just wanted to watch the match live.
But I guess there was nothing I could do.
I"ll just make do with the battle log.
The seconds slowly ticked by.
The team that left earlier didn"t come back.
In other words, they were defeated.
The next team managed to come back.
As soon as they came back, they formed a circle and did a reflection session.
Hmm…
Reflecting on the match whether it was a win or a loss… That"s a good idea.
「It"s a bit early, but your match is coming up. This way.」
Ooh.
It was my turn next.
I was led by a staff member towards the arena.
Great.
What kind of opponent would I get this time?
A team of players was in the other corner.
While the staff member healed my HP and MP, I used【Identify】on the other team.
And…?
? ? ? Lv.13
Fighter On Standby
? ? ? Lv.13
Fighter On Standby
? ? ? Lv.13
Fighter On Standby
? ? ? Lv.13
Treasure Hunter On Standby
? ? ? Lv.13
Sorcerer On Standby
? ? ? Lv.13
Sorcerer On Standby