The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 152: "The Great Mole"

"...Well, it seems nobody else will be coming."

I stood there for a while after finishing the battle against the clan, but no player who seemed to be targeting us appeared. Occasionally, beginner players who seemed unaware of the recent development from social media would come to the grasslands, but upon seeing Yoroizaka-san, they would quickly flee.

<In the recent battle, I apologize for the damage that reached you, boss...>

"No, there wasn't much damage to speak of. It was more their fault for not listening to me, or just impatience on their part. You don't have to worry about it."

I had declared that I wouldn't interfere until the battle with Sugaru was over, so it would have been better if they had just focused on fighting Sugaru. Even if it was for provocation, adding me to the battle, when it wasn't certain they could even defeat Sugaru alone, was meaningless and reckless.

"Did I underestimate myself... or rather, did I underestimate Sugaru? It seems like they intended to attack me more, and if they could involve Sugaru in it, that would be even better."

Certainly, in cases where there is a difference in strength between the boss and its entourage, such tactics may be employed. However, that assumes the entourage is much weaker than the players. Speaking of the boss's entourage, it could be considered one of the gimmicks itself. In boss battles, you couldn't win unless you dealt with the gimmicks reliably. However, this battle wasn't winnable, and it didn't seem like the gimmicks were manageable either.

"I think the conditions fell a bit short. I'd love to see them try again when their production players are able to produce items closer to artifact-level on their own."

If it's artifacts, even rare or legendary ones can be made. If that's the case, it wouldn't be impossible for other players. Even if not artifact-level items, a sword at that level would be enough to pose a threat to Yoroizaka-san. I would still take damage, and taking damage means there's a possibility of death.

"Still, a clan, huh..."

If we can't track them on social media, we won't have any information if they coordinate in a place we can't check. I had thought that if I kept an eye on the players' movements, we wouldn't have to embarrassingly lose to traps like I did that time, but being coordinated in a place I couldn't check was a blind spot. This time, we were lucky to finish unscathed because the opponents were weak, but it might not be the same next time. No, to ensure it's not the same next time, we should work harder to strengthen our own side.

This time, Sugaru was able to single-handedly dominate more opponents than in the previous capital, but a significant advantage was due to the ability to fly. I can't imagine what kind of conditions normal players like humans would have to clear to unlock abilities like [Flight] or [Sky Dash], but if players could acquire such abilities, it wouldn't be so one-sided. That's when the real battle would begin.

But if the opponent becomes stronger, it's okay as long as we become stronger too. The ideal situation is to gain enough combat power to defeat a 50-person raid party solo, even if they use the aforementioned artifacts. We're not there yet.

"For that, will customers come to the Old Hiers Capital?"

The difficulty has already been lowered to ☆4. I thought it wouldn't go below ☆5 as long as Sieg was there, but apparently not. It seems that the difficulty judgment makes a distinction between the capital and the royal castle. If Sieg takes even one step out of the castle, it immediately jumps up to ☆5. If the system recognizes the royal castle as a separate field, it wouldn't be strange for there to be a teleportation service directly to the royal castle, but there is no such thing. There seems to be a rule that states that another area within the region cannot be chosen as a teleportation destination. You have to go through the proper steps to get to the boss area, and that might be the case.