《Curse Nightmare Party – Jagan Yousei ga Yuku VRMMO》 CH 1 1 : Prologue ¡°Fumu, two choices huh..¡± In this VR shopping space, in front of me were two game packages.. Or rather poster-like objects that were floating. On one side was the latest national RPG product, the first VRMMO. A software from a major company which had become a topic of discussion ever since it was released. It¡¯s genre to speak of, was a light and orthodox fantasy. On the other side was a VRMMO software produced by a minor company which lacked sufficient prior information. At a quick glance, the public information on it shows that it falls under the category of a dark fantasy. ¡°Nn-¡­..¡± I loved games. Rather, more accurately speaking, I loved unknown stories. That¡¯s why I play games, why I read manga and novels, why I watch anime. I¡¯m not exactly serious about it, but people of the world are generally otaku aren¡¯t they? ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± This year I became a university student. And as of now, it¡¯s June, so real life circumstances are gradually settling down. It was time to start preparing for summer vacation both in real life and in VR. Actually, the two softwares I brought up earlier were scheduled to open and begin service on Friday, tomorrow at noon. ¡°A light and orthodox fantasy naturally isn¡¯t bad. It¡¯s not bad but I¡¯ve more or less had my fair share of those.¡± I looked at the major company¡¯s software. This seems like a series work so.. Prior knowledge of connected past works would be basically mandatory if you wanted to understand the fan service. There¡¯s also the possibility of former fans or nostalgic trolls being annoying, but I can¡¯t say for sure. When it comes to major works, trolls who force meta on others, people who are overly irritable, or people who easily get mind blown will certainly spring up. There are also patterns of guilds, friends, or other relationships causing real life connections to fall apart by influence. If not, a national RPG will surely be filled with a startling amount of people. It¡¯s certain that there will be severe competition for MMO specific resources. Then, if you overcome those, what¡¯s visible ahead is just a light and orthodox moving story to give you a peace of mind, though, that¡¯s not exactly a bad point. It¡¯s not as if I hate a light and orthodox story, it¡¯s just that in this world, there¡¯s far too many of them and I¡¯ve grown tired of it. ¡°Is there nothing?¡± For now, considering that a characteristic of a game from a large company is its amount of people, the number of people I don¡¯t want to be involved with would also increase, which is probably a bad match for me. Because of that, I¡¯ll exclude the major company¡¯s software. ¡°A dark fantasy huh¡­¡± If I had to choose, The minor company¡¯s software is what I¡¯d look over. Simultaneously, I recalled the time this company released its console games. If I¡¯m not mistaken, they made works that had a peculiar outlook with high difficulty that people were divided over. Almost certainly, this game would be like that as well. ¡°A world filled with curses. A world where strange people frolicked. Equipment that is contaminated with hexes leading to a battle style which carries risks.¡± I once again reviewed the contents of the game on the official website. The genre is dark fantasy. The stage is post-apocalyptic. In other words, a world that has perished. ¡°Hee, the player also becomes a deformed figure.¡± A typical fantasy would have elves or dwarfs. There¡¯s none of that here. However, at the start of the game, if the player would have their body afflicted by hexes, then an inhuman appearance would be obtainable. On the official website, example pictures were published such as avatars with long ears like an elf and avatars with horns like an oni. That wasn¡¯t all either. The avatar didn¡¯t have a normal human body, but there was one with four arms, and also one with an octopus¡¯ tentacle as an arm. A person with a second mouth attached to their stomach was presented as well. I was charmed with interest but most people would press the back button on their browser by now. ¡°Nn? Repayment service?¡± And now, management seems to understand their playerbase¡¯s concerns well. The first time you play, from the moment the game starts up, you are allowed 72 hours in real time to delete your game data or exchange it to comply with the repayment. Avatars were also allowed to be freely replaced is what was informed. In other words, if it doesn¡¯t sit well with you, you¡¯re not forced to stay as it. ¡°Hee- interesting isn¡¯t it?¡± I attentively read through the entirety of the official site Aa, it truly seems fun. If it¡¯s this world, you¡¯ll probably be able to see things you¡¯ve never seen before. I didn¡¯t hesitate any longer. ¡°Un, I¡¯ve made my decision. I¡¯ll be starting this game.¡± I deposited my payment by touching the poster. The machine began to download the software. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to tomorrow¡± The name of the game was ¡°Curse Nightmare Party,¡± its abbreviation was ¡°CNP.¡± Translated in Japanese, it would be ¡°A party of cursed nightmares.¡± A product managed by the TopHunt company with a jellyfish logo. There¡¯s a VRMMO that¡¯s just a little bit strange. CH 2 2 : Make Avata CH 3 3 : First Check ¨C 1 CH 4 4 : First Check ¨C 2 ¡°My HP went down as a side effect of the item didn¡¯t it¡± The¡ºAppraisal Loupe¡»costed 1 HP each time you used its appraisal. I questioned if there was a point in taking away 1 HP. However, one who laughs at 1 will cry at 1. (1) Though I¡¯m already crying from my curse which forces me to float. I¡¯ll be careful with not exceeding the HP limit. ¡°No problems with satiety. I wonder if it was possibly because of my level or the room.¡± I looked over my statuses one by one. Level wasn¡¯t something I was worried about now. As for HP¡­. If I¡¯m remembering right, in ¡°CNP,¡± it was a resource that could easily be depleted and recovered. Satiety was another seemingly flexible resource. A demerit would be applied when hunger runs out, but right now, it appears consumption was paused for some reason. If I¡¯m not mistaken, Interference was a collective stat that influenced other abilities. In simple terms, it affected aspects such as attack power, defense, and speed. Furthermore, in actual practice, the amount of damage received was automatically calculated using factors such as the speed of the attack, how hard the target is, and which part of the target was hit. Depending on which area gets destroyed, it could also result in an instant death. Yeah, I can see why HP was designed to be easily accessible. ¡°Abnormalities 19 was¡­ well, probably my abnormalities huh.¡± The problem starts here. I obtained my current avatar through signing a pledge in which I was solely responsible for whatever happens. In other words, I definitely received a unique avatar even if it followed specifications. And this count of 19 abnormalities may have a role. (1) :£±¤òЦ¤¦Õߤϣ±¤ËÆü¤¯, derived from Ò»äE¤òЦ¤¦ÕߤÏÒ»äE¤ËÆü¤¯, a Japanese saying meaning something along the lines of ¨C ¡°One who laughs over one yen will eventually cry over one yen.¡± Or, in more broader sense, ¡°One who carelessly spends, will eventually come up short.¡± CH 5 5 : First Check ¨C 3 CH 6 6 : First Battle ¨C 1 ¡°Nn-¡­¡­ First of all, I really want a weapon. It doesn¡¯t have to be anything spectacular, just something solid to hit things with.¡± First I want a weapon. No matter how you look at it, beating a large dog-sized rat with just my bare hands was impossible. As for armor¡­.. It too, was impossible in this situation huh. There was also no way I was going to not get hit. Meaning, I had no choice but to just do what I can. ¡°Hard objects, hard objects huh¡­¡­ Iron, rock, concrete, glass¡­¡­. Hm?¡± I pondered, remembering what objects there were between where the safety area was and the rat. A certain object came into mind. ¡°There was something¡­. There was a object with weight to it.¡± And finally, what I recalled was, near the main pathway, after leaving the safety area, there was a large amount of debris. A majority of them were hefty stones or sand that I couldn¡¯t carry, but there should be a reasonably sized rock mixed in amongst them. Depending on the situation, there might even be a stone impaled by a steel beam, creating a perfect hammer. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go search for it.¡± In CNP, item creating was quite convenient. It seemed like every object on the field was available to use. If that¡¯s the case, then what I was imagining wasn¡¯t too inconceivable at all. ¡°Time to get going-, aah, I forgot¡­¡­¡± I shifted my wings to stand up, an action that was familiar to me now. I began to move out of the room. Then I remembered. In front of my eyes, standing in my way, was the metal door and its weight. It ended up taking 5 minutes to open the second time around. CH 7 7 : First Battle ¨C 2 TN: This chapter had a lot of interjections or exclamations which I generally left alone. Examples being ¡°Suu-¡­. Hah-¡­.¡± or ¡°Tto!¡± Standalone exclamations and the like are a bit difficult to translate into English since there¡¯s nothing really similar. I could use ¡°here we go!¡± or ¡°whoa!¡± but it¡¯s not really the same feeling. Chapter 6 had something similar which I did forcibly translated into ¡°whoa¡± but as expected, it still felt a little wrong. Besides somewhat universal interjections such as ¡°Hmm¡± or ¡°Eh,¡± I usually prefer to just keep these in Japanese romaji so you can kind of imagine the sound yourself. Though on some occasions I inconsistently switch to English anyways. Let me know if it gets confusing and I¡¯ll try to work something out. CH 8 8 : Drop Rule ¨C 1 CH 9 9 : Drop Rule ¨C 2 1 : ¶¾¤òʳ¤é¤ï¤ÐÃó¤Þ¤Ç, If you¡¯re going to eat poison, then you might as well go as far as licking the plate. It¡¯s a fairly straightforward proverb basically saying if you do something bad, may as well just stick with it. There is a similar English expression which goes, ¡°In for a penny, in for a pound.¡± The Corrosion stat was renamed to Corruption to avoid any mix-ups with the disintegration effect and to clarify its meaning. ½þʳ is normally interpreted as erosion, Here, its referring to the subject being eroded or corroded by curses. That being the case, corruption would probably coincide better with how the author wanted to convey the meaning. Though, that¡¯s not to say erosion/corrosion is wrong at all and you¡¯re free to still think of it as such if its more coherent that way. CH 10 10 : First Make ¨C 1 CH 11 11 : First Make ¨C 2 CH 12 12 : Hungry Curse CH 13 13 : Make Kettle ¨C 1 Owned Items : Indestructible Tattered Rags Top, Indestructible Tattered Rags Bottom, Appraisal Loupe, Rebar with Attached Concrete, Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Front Tooth, Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Front Tooth, Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Fur Bag, etc. CH 14 14 : Make Kettle ¨C 2 ?Title,¡ºGluttony?1¡»has been acquired? When I returned to the safety area, I decided to first dismantle the corpse of a Poisonous Bite Rat. I whittled down almost all of its HP with poison, so the disintegration phenomenon didn¡¯t occur. Its fur, bones, internal organs, etc¡­ were all completely removed. And as a result of continuing to eat even after I was full, I acquired a title. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºGluttony?1¡» Effect : Gain resistance to attacks that directly reduce one¡¯s satiety. (Tiny) Requirement : Eat more than a certain amount while satiety was at max. Squishy-squishy!? Chubby-chubby!? ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about the flavor text¡± I lightly pinched my side. Yeah, it¡¯s okay. My avatar had a certain squishiness to it, but there weren¡¯t any squishy-squishy parts that were no good. And it seemed like the effects weren¡¯t bad. Along with the other titles I¡¯ve gotten thus far, I won¡¯t be making this visible to other players. ¡°Now then, I should start the processing¡± First, the front tooth of the Poisonous Bite Rat is shaved into an awl for the sake of what I was about to do. Then, from the bones of the Poisonous Bite Rat, I picked the ones with just the right size and prepared them by shaving them down until the desired size and shape was met. I made a hole in them with the tool I just created and passed the cable through. ¡°With this, I¡¯ll be able to block the hole in the kettle.¡± The metal kettle I obtained had two openings. One hole was the spout. The other was a small hole affixed to the lid to let the contents within the kettle pour out smoothly. Amongst these, the small hole was now completely plugged with a bone that was whittled down to fit perfectly. With this, the lid didn¡¯t move due to the curse, and now the contents inside wouldn¡¯t spill out from the opening on top. ¡°Yep, looks good so far¡± Another bone was also inserted into the spout, acting as a cork. Though, I made it so that it was removable by connecting it to a cable prepared earlier, which passed through and linked with the handle. ¡°Then, soak it in the restorative water.¡± I moved over to a corner in the safety area, where the bowl of gushing restorative water was located. The container couldn¡¯t be moved from this place and couldn¡¯t be carried either. However, the depth of the bowl was adequate enough and so was the width. Thus, I submerged the processed kettle in the restorative water with the spout facing up. The kettle continued to swallow the recovery water while burbling out bits of air several times. Once the inside was filled up with the green liquid, I took it back out. ¡°Now, all that¡¯s left was to curse it¡± I placed the kettle on the grudge table. Then, just like before with the surrounding curse¡­¡­ A mixed fog of red, black, and purple gathers around the kettle. ¡°Reusable recovery item, reusable recovery item, reusable recovery item, reusable recovery item, reusable recovery item¡­¡­¡± I directed myself towards the kettle, praying, murmuring, cursing. As with the fur bag previously, I kept glaring with my 13 eyes and hoped to change the curse into my desired outcome. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Well then, I wonder how it ended up.¡± I picked up the kettle and inspected it with the¡ºAppraisal Loupe¡». ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ Potion Kettle Level£º£± Durability£º100/100 Interference£º100 Corruption£º100/100 Abnormalities£º£± A metal kettle with restorative water. To use it, either pour or drink the contents. The stored capacity is 2500 points in HP, and it is automatically replenished when approaching the location where the restorative water spewed from. Unless the cork-like bone of the Poisonous Bite Rat was removed, the contents will not spill out. Caution: If you restore 501 or more HP on the same target within 10 minutes, poison will be dealt accordingly with the amount of HP recovered. ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡°Nice, this was a great success. With this, my concerns over HP recovery would be okay from now on.¡± The result turned out wonderful. As explained, it seems that the contents are automatically replenished, and even if you shook it left, right, up, or down, the contents wouldn¡¯t leak out. As for the demerit¡­¡­ I did have ¡°If You Eat Poison, Lick The Plate?1¡±, so I wonder if an oral intake would be okay. Even so, considering the convenience and ease in creation¡­¡­ It seemed similar to the fur bag and might¡¯ve been another item that had its degree of difficulty adjusted. ¡°Then, onto the next.¡± ¡°First, the chest¡­¡­¡± I put the Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s fur on me and adjusted the position of the fur so it didn¡¯t interfere with the functionality of the eyes on my collarbone and the wings on my back. Then, I overlapped the fur on the chest and sides, opened up a hole with the awl and bound them with a cable. The positioning was¡­¡­ To be honest, it was difficult. The eye between the collarbone was troublesome. Though, I managed to do it. Finally, I wrapped the cable around my waist with a slight tightness to prevent it from moving around too easily. In addition, this cable was something that was also used for carrying the Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s fur bag and Potion Kettle. ¡°It seems like the rags didn¡¯t disappear since it wasn¡¯t actually cursed yet.¡± This looks like¡­¡­ a one-piece with an open back? Yeah, it wasn¡¯t a design that I really felt like wearing, regardless of how the fur looked. For the convenience of my insect wings, the design couldn¡¯t be avoided. ¡°Then, shall we curse it?¡± I took off the fur and placed it on the grudge table As usual, the fog begins to gather. ¡°Become a strong armor, become a strong armor¡­¡­¡± The idea I wanted for the armor was easy to understand. It couldn¡¯t be helped if something like an iron sword was able to slice through it, but at the very least, a stone blade shouldn¡¯t be able to cleave through it so easily. It couldn¡¯t be helped if a boulder could crush it, but it should somewhat protect me against the impact of a rock. It can¡¯t be helped if it gets punctured from a bite with momentum behind it, but if it was just a gentle play bite, it shouldn¡¯t open up a hole and stay as is. I hoped the result would improve by a bit considering I had only wished for such a normal set of armor. ¡°Okay, it seems about done.¡± I completed it without problems and appraised it. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Fur Clothes Level : 3 Durability : 100/100 Interference : 100 Corruption : 100/100 Abnormalities : 3 A one-piece dress created from simply using the fur of a Poisonous Bite Rat. Although it¡¯s weak, it¡¯s endowed with physical resistance, lightning resistance, and poison resistance. These abilities will strengthen against the outside world. Caution: There is a decrease in fire resistance while wearing this. (Small) ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡°Ah, excellent.¡± It clearly seemed great, so I immediately equipped it. I was told that my fire resistance would decrease upon wearing it, but I wouldn¡¯t worry about that until an enemy utilizing fire attacks actually appeared. ¡°It sure vanished.¡± Then, once I donned the Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Fur Clothes, the Indestructible Tattered Rags equipment that had been hiding my privates up to now faded off to somewhere else. It also disappears from the status column. If I took these clothes off, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll probably appear out of nowhere again. ¡°The time was¡­¡­ It should be around a good time to stop.¡± It also seemed like a alright place to end off in. Thus, I decided to do so and logged out. Well then, let¡¯s go for a full-scale exploration of the Tower of Mice tomorrow. CH 15 15 : Bulletin Board ¨C 1 Previous ¨C Title ¨C Next 1 : Old futaba channel thing believing to have originated in ¡°Ochinchin land¡± threads. Whenever such a thread was created, replies like, ¡°get on board ^^¡± or ¡°yay ^^¡± would be guaranteed. It is implied that a naive shota type character would be saying this. 2 : A cry from the soul expressing an joyous feeling, usually during criminal acts. It¡¯s often used in Fist of the North Star by the minor enemies, you know, the outlaws with mohawks and leather jackets. 3 : Said by Yajuu-senpai in the climax of the 4th part of Midsummer Night¡¯s Lewd Dream. Amongst other things, it¡¯s just used to express surprise. 4: From part 1 of JoJo. A similar phrase is said by Dio¡¯s goons during the kiss scene. 5: ¥¬¥¿¥Ã£¡£¿, an onomatopoeia that expresses a sudden noise. In 2ch, It¡¯s usually used in this ASCII art, ( ?§Õ? )¡¡???? .r¡¡ ©d £ß|| ¡¡ /£þ£þ£þ/£ß £Ü/¡¡¡¡¡¡/ I might¡¯ve missed a few subtle ones, but these were all the references I could make out. CH 16 16 : Venom Rats ¨C 1 CH 17 17 : Venom Rats ¨C 2 CH 18 18 : Taruwiveno ¨C 1 (1) : Reference to a phrase DIO says in Jojo part 3, ¡°Saikou ni haitte yatsu da!¡± CH 19 19 : Taruwiveno ¨C 2 (1): In Zoroastrianism, there¡¯s a certain pair of demons/daevas and one of them goes by the name of Taurvi. Basically, Taurvi is the personification of hunger and also deals in poison. Seems fairly similar to someone we know, yes? There¡¯s more, but I won¡¯t get too into it since it¡¯s pretty extensive. Though if you¡¯re curious, just put in a search for ¡°Taurvi.¡± CH 20 20 : Taruwiveno ¨C 3 CH 21 21 : Taruwiveno ¨C 4 CH 22 22 : Taruwiveno ¨C 5 CH 23 23 : Taruwiveno ¨C 6 CH 24 24 : Dangle Fern ¨C 1 CH 25 25 : Dangle Fern ¨C 2 CH 26 26 : Dangle Fern ¨C 3 CH 27 27 : Taruwiveno £« ¨C 1 CH 28 28 : Taruwiveno £« ¨C 2 CH 29 29 : Shortcut ¨C 1 CH 30 30 : Shortcut ¨C 2 CH 31 31 : Bulletin Board ¨C 2 (1) Ninja Slayer reference. Click to see a short video as an example. CH 32 ¡°A total of 6 people from the large company, Bonbon, as well as their associates had all kinds of various things from their past exposed and were taken away.¡± Monday. I¡¯m having lunch on campus grounds while watching the news on my phone. ¡°The latest popular game that¡¯s gaining great reputation. A celebrity who just got married. A video that¡¯s been subjected to flame which one couldn¡¯t care less about.¡± The news covered all kinds of topics. Well, as you¡¯d expect, ignorance would possibly sow the seeds of trouble, or maybe I should say, being too distant from the world is a problem in itself. At the very least, I should listen in on what¡¯s going on. It¡¯s better to stay away from troublesome things if they¡¯re avoidable. However, I¡¯m facing my number one problem right now. ¡°I suppose I see why it¡¯s necessary for them to restrict the amount of time you can log in after all. If there¡¯s a feeling of discomfort during said playtime or if you spend an entire 3 days in there and suddenly return to the real world, your own body would probably feel off.¡± Compared to your avatar in CNP, your real body has low specs, I guess. The lack of wings and levitation aren¡¯t much of a problem, but it¡¯s become frustrating only being able to look forward. CH 33 ¡°Login. Now then, let¡¯s get to creating what I needed to make right at once.¡± ¡°Chuchuu¡± Why did I need to make a weapon in the first place? The reason for that was to deal with enemies which¡ºTaruwiveno¡»couldn¡¯t address. So, which enemies can¡¯t it handle? ¡°Since the antenna from earlier will work as a base for the grip, I¡¯ll just remove any unnecessary parts.¡± The first problematic enemies were those unaffected by poison. If I encountered them, I¡¯d just run away, but there might be situations where I wouldn¡¯t be able to, so it¡¯s important to consider how I should fight given those circumstances. ¡°I¡¯ll knit the vines of the dangling meat fern flower together to make a rope¡­¡± Another problem is when the opponent¡¯s numbers are too many. If the number of my opponents were around 6 or so, it¡¯d still be negotiable, but when it¡¯s 100 or even 200, having to use¡ºMagic Eye of Poison?£±£«¡»on every single one of them would be impossible to say the least. Here, the best outcome would be escaping as well, but if that¡¯s not possible, I¡¯d like to have a AoE attack method. ¡°Ah, while I¡¯m at it, I should use the upper and lower jaws separately.¡± The thing is, they could come at me before the poison effect even activates. In other words, a so-called blitzkrieg. The damage over time from my poison is ample enough, but it doesn¡¯t do much instantly and even if the poison progresses to a severe illness, it¡¯ll be difficult to cripple them all. It wouldn¡¯t do me any good if they approached me faster than the time it takes for my poison to stack up. Well, again, the best thing to do here is to simply run away, but in the case that that¡¯s impossible, I at least want to find an easy way to restrain them from coming any closer. ¡°Muu, this is surprisingly complicated. It¡¯s no good if the length is too long or too short¡­.. Hmm, it¡¯ll be hard to make adjustments after cursing it too.¡± Then, under these conditions, what sort of weapon could I make that would work with my levitation curse? I searched up a lot of various weapons in real life and the one I decided on was exactly what I was in the middle of making currently. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s ready, more or less.¡± A flower bud produced at the end of the vine from a dangling meat fern flower. It has the property of increasing its strength depending on the curse concentration around it. It emits a nice scent, but because it was detached from the vine and moss, it will not bloom any further. ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡°Hmm, the buds don¡¯t seem very easy to use.¡± At this rate, would it be better if I just threw it like a rock or ball at an enemy in an area with high curse concentration? If I head over to a place that¡¯s low in curse concentration, its strength would decrease and I¡¯d be able to peel off the marbled meat-like layers which might have various uses, but¡­ that¡¯s impossible for me, huh. ¡°Regardless, I should try harvesting it after the flower blooms next time.¡± I wonder if it lacks nourishment, or maybe the safety area isn¡¯t big enough. To begin with, I don¡¯t even know if it needs growth anyways, but only 1 dangling meat fern flower vine was willing to grow that far. That being the case, it wouldn¡¯t be possible to obtain the flower until tomorrow and after. Moreover, although the dangling meat fern flower absorbs the curse concentration around it to grow, the curse concentration itself doesn¡¯t actually diminish from the room. This might just be a convenience that exists for the sake of the game, but beyond that, it could be that the curses are purely too abundant in this world. ¡°Now then, let¡¯s start processing the leaves, shall we?¡± I picked up one of the many Poisonous Bite Rat skulls I had along with a sizable bone and tore up the leaves of the dangling meat fern flower as I tossed them into the inside of the skull. TN: By the way, in the comments for the raws, someone questioned what Taru¡¯s pose was during the activation of her 13 eyes. Does her pose involve her joining her hands like Virgin Mary? Maybe she poses like a surgeon with both hands raised before an operation? Or does she spread her arms out and lean forward facing her target? Or maybe she crosses her arms in front of her chest like a mummy? The author says he hasn¡¯t specified a pose, but imagines that her poses probably depend on how she¡¯s feeling during the moment. CH 34 ¡°One, two.¡± I aimed at the dangling meat fern flower leaves that were crammed inside the interior of the Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s skull and struck against it with a bone from a Poison Spitting Rat. Then, after hitting it multiple times, I grinded the leaves by mashing them together. ¡°Chu-?¡± ¡°I guess you could call it a basic fundamental item, but this is going to turn into medicine.¡± Patience. At any rate, be patient. The leaves were persistently crushed together to create a paste. Once a certain amount of green paste was developed, I added in more leaves and continued mashing them again. ¡°Though, I¡¯m really starting to understand how easy this work has become in the modern world.¡± In my opinion, I think my efficiency was gradually increasing, little by little. Still, I patiently carried on with my mundane endeavor, without change. In real life, this would be done instantly with a mixer. Even without one, you could probably make this a lot easier by settling for a well-prepared pestle and mortar. However, since I didn¡¯t even have primitive tools here, all I can do is patiently persevere and move progress along. After all, to make tools, you¡¯d need knowledge and tools. CH 35 ¡°Login.¡± ¡°Chuu¡± Tuesday, the next day. After my lecture in college ended, I logged into CNP. I immediately headed towards the 3rd layer. The rats along the way? One was killed through poison and I collected its corpse, but as for the others, I either ignored them, beat them to death, or poisoned them and left them there as a distraction. I¡¯m already this far into it after all. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll be investigating the 3rd layer but¡­¡± Other than the dangling meat fern flowers that were growing abundantly from the ceiling, there was a maze solely made of concrete. It most likely wouldn¡¯t have an obvious end to it since it was ultimately structured to be an endless loop. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case¡­ the space here has become distorted in a way that wouldn¡¯t allow me to apply regular logic to this maze. Moreover, I don¡¯t know how credible the map is, so I¡¯ve given up on marking things down. I came up with a better idea anyways. ¡°Appraise¡± I used the¡ºAppraisal Loupe¡»on the air in front of me. The curse concentration displayed was the same as last time, 11. When I stepped into the area where the stairs were and appraised the space around the low fence that intervened between here and the floor below, the curse concentration was then shown as 10. I stood at the boundary between the two and tried to memorize as much as I could regarding the differences when it came to sensations and visuals. ¡°It seems do-able.¡± ¡°Chuu?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying, I¡¯ve found a clue as to where the center of the curse was located.¡± CH 36 ¡°Ahahahaha!!¡± ¡°¡±¡±Chuu!?¡±¡±¡± One of the Young Poisonous Rats was too slow in getting away. My flail plummets down on it, leaving simply a stain behind on the floor along with a dropped item, its tail. ¡°This is great! Absolutely wonderful!¡± ¡°¡±¡±Chaaaaa!?¡±¡±¡±¡± I capitalized on the fact that the flail hit the floor by using the momentum to jump and spin as my body was toppling over. The blunt part of the flail makes a full rotation around me, whizzing through the air as if it condemned the ground and mowed down a Young Poisonous Rat that was gnawing on a dropped tail, also reducing it into a drop. ¡°This feeling of clobbering everything in my path! It¡¯s truly beyond compare!¡± ¡°¡±¡±Chu-gweeeh!?¡±¡±¡± I leapt up once again, this time floating upside down in the air as I continued swinging the flail in a manner that almost seemed to have teased the floor. And just like that, the Young Poisonous Rats were sent flying. ¡°So, it looks like you guys really can¡¯t do anything outside of your orders after all.¡± ¡°¡±¡±Chuu¡­ Chuchuu¡­¡±¡±¡±¡± It was obvious who had the upper hand in this fight. However, the Young Poisonous Rats didn¡¯t show signs of running. They just glared at me as I kept hanging onto a dangling meat fern flower vine and was lingering in the air. Also, whenever they had the chance, they¡¯d sink their teeth into a dropped tail. It appears that if there was something that was considered food nearby, apart from doing the minimum to evade attacks, the Young Poisonous Rats weren¡¯t allowed to do anything else but bite down on said food. ¡°Well, all I have to do is to exterminate them in that case.¡ºTaruwiveno¡»¡± ¡°¡±¡±Chaaaaa!?¡±¡±¡±¡± I swung my flail and fired off my evil eye numerous times. Each round, a Young Poisonous Rat would either get knocked away or poisoned to death. Whenever my HP decreased, I would cling onto the dangling meat fern flower vine and take a short break. Then, I¡¯d commence the attack once again. What I was most cautious about currently was the possibility of reinforcements, but looking at the situation, it doesn¡¯t seem likely that it¡¯ll happen. Which is why I took my time completely annihilating all of the Young Poisonous Rats. ¡°And, all done.¡± CH 37 ¡°Login¡± ¡°Chuchuu¡± Today was Wednesday¡¯s login time. The location that I logged out at yesterday wasn¡¯t at the entrance of the¡ºTower of Mice¡»but rather, a safety area that was in the depths of the dungeon. However. ¡°It¡¯s almost the exact same as the one near the entrance.¡± The safety area I was standing in now was completely identical to the safety area at the entrance of the¡ºTower of Mice¡» Dangling meat fern flowers drooped from the ceiling and the rats¡¯ bones were also piled up in the vicinity along with their pelts. Apparently, it would appear that safety areas were individually separate for each player. No matter which barrier door you entered, you¡¯d end up in the same safety area. ¡°Mmn¡± ¡°Chuu?¡± Wait, it seems like that wasn¡¯t all there was to it. When I came in contact with the metal door, a translucent screen appeared. It listed the areas where the door would lead to. In all likelihood, once you opened and entered through a barrier door, it would serve as a warp point. If we consider how the world of¡ºCNP¡»works¡­ then this safety room I was currently in may possibly be some sort of interdimensional room forged through a curse. That being the case, it would make sense for the curse concentration in the safety area to always be at a constant value. On top of that, depending on the materials and how you curse it, you might even be able to create something like a portable safety area item. CH 38 ¡°Hmph!¡± ¡°Whoops¡± If it was just a regular Poisonous Bite Rat, I could directly skirmish with it, but considering how huge this rat was, I¡¯d simply get crushed in the blink of an eye. Because of that, I had no choice but to jump to the side and avoid the giant rat¡¯s attack. ¡°Appraise¡± At the same time, I appraised several things. The room was¡­ in a square with each side being 25 meters in length. It was about 10 meters tall and there were many dangling meat fern flowers hanging from the ceiling, but all of them appeared to be chewed through half way. There were no obstacles nearby either. Though in place of a bed, dangling meat fern flower vines looked to be woven into a make-shift nest. Now, the most important detail was the stats on this oversized rat¡­ ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºLeader Of The Poison Rats¡»?Venomulard¡¡Level 15 HP: 18328/18328 ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡°Ah, okay. It¡¯s definitely a boss.¡± ¡°Mm, this strange sensation¡­ Did you perhaps steal a look?¡± Frankly speaking, this is bad. In¡ºCNP¡», levels weren¡¯t to be relied on so they¡¯re not worth the concern, but its large health pool, title, and unique name meant that this giant rat¡­ no, Venomulard, wasn¡¯t your average monster and that much was obvious. To make matters worse, it somehow perceived the appraisal I¡¯d done through the¡ºAppraisal Loupe¡», yet it didn¡¯t pursue me and just stood there staring at me in suspicion. CH 39 ¡°¡­ Well, this is bad.¡± ¡°Chuu?¡± I respawned in the safety area and held my Poison Rat¡¯s Pointed Hat up to my face to repress my sight as I closed my other eyes. Succumbed in darkness, I recalled my battle earlier with Venomulard. ¡°My poison gets cleansed immediately and the opponent undeniably had the upper hand when it came to close combat as well as long range combat, huh.¡± In conclusion, Venomulard,¡ºLeader Of The Poison Rats¡»was an enemy that I stood no chance against. Its stats were high, but that alone wasn¡¯t much of a concern since that¡¯s simply the standard for bosses. The real problem was that I was just horribly incompatible against him. ¡°Specifically speaking, that poison resist and dispel really clashed with me¡­¡± First off, my main source of strength, poison, has no effect. The number of stacks was significantly reduced and on top of that, he can cancel it in a single move before the damage even occurs. It¡¯s basically worthless in this fight. CH 40 ¡°Well, I managed to gather all the materials one way or another.¡± ¡°Chuu¡± Thursday. Once I¡¯d logged in, I collected roughly 30 Young Poisonous Rat tails from the 3rd floor. Of course, I didn¡¯t go after the rats that had amassed in the open hall, but rather, I diligently hunted down the ones that were loitering around the 3rd floor, enticed by the smell of the blooming dangling meat fern flowers. ¡°First, I¡¯ll¡­ chop these up.¡± I stuffed the Young Poisonous Rat tails into the skull of a Poisonous Bite Rat and started mincing them up using a Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s front tooth. Naturally, with the front tooth¡¯s unique property, venom seeped out and soaked into the product every time I chopped it. Though, that was within my range of expectations so it wasn¡¯t a problem. ¡°It ended up turning into some nice-looking mince meat.¡± The result was mince meat made out of Young Poisonous Rat tails. However, it wasn¡¯t exactly the meat that was going to be used, but the poison in the meat instead. With that said, I grabbed a portion of the meat and squeezed it as hard as I could over the usual tea bowl. Doing so allowed not only the liquid of the meat to accumulate into the bowl, but also a small amount of another fluid which irritated my hands as well. ¡°Phew¡­ I was able to procure a bit of it somehow.¡± ¡°Chuchuu¡± From there, I continued my work for about an hour. Along the way, my steps included actions such as overlapping the bones of a Poisonous Bite Rat and crushing them against each other to extract all the fluid and poison I could get out of them. Then, while eating the minced tail meat (raw) which had lost most of the liquid and venom it contained, I appraised the wrung out fluids. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ Primordial Venom Of The Poison Rats Level: 1 Durability: 100/100 Interference: 100 CH 41 ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Friday, at noon. The official website for¡ºCNP¡»was updated, announcing information regarding the first official event. For that reason, I was in the cafeteria, fiddling with my phone to look over the details. ¡°The first official event is a PvP tournament.¡± Exactly as how it was announced in advance, the preliminaries were formatted like a battle royale, while the main competition was in the form of a 1v1 tournament. In addition, players will be automatically teleported to the event map during the event and the regular map will undergo maintenance and various fixes. Because of that, if you had items you wanted to bring to the event, or items you didn¡¯t want to lose, it¡¯s best to make sure that they¡¯re kept within the safety area. ¡°Looks like the event map also consisted of a map for spectating and socializing as well.¡± This event also seemingly served as a social gathering for the players. Players that weren¡¯t participating in PvP could apparently chat and trade items with other players in the spectator/social map. They also said that there¡¯d be a system where you could register items and it would automatically be exchanged for different items that the admins deemed to be of equal value. CH 42 ¡°Login¡± ¡°Chuchuu¡± As usual, I logged into¡ºCNP¡». The dangling meat fern flower in the safety area¡­ had grown into a bud. Only one plant was in that state. Maybe there was some kind of rule that said that a singular dangling meat fern flower vine could only grow per certain area of moss or something. Thinking back, the dangling meat fern flower vines that I saw on the 3rd and 4th floors had a decent amount of space between them and they strangely never grew together in clusters. Well, I¡¯ll just leave it as is and see how it goes when it finally blooms. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started with some more 3rd floor exploration.¡± I left the safety area and headed towards the 3rd floor through the 2nd one. Except, I didn¡¯t go to the place the maze was in, but rather, I re-visited an area that was particularly odd. The bottomless pit with dangling meat fern flowers vines extending down. ¡°¡­¡± The reason as to why I wanted to look into it was simple. I figured, if the space was this distorted around here, there had to have been something worth checking. I didn¡¯t have the slightest clue over what I¡¯d find but¡­ it would likely be a lot more meaningful compared to blindly wandering through the labyrinth on the 3rd floor. ¡°Alright, it looks safe enough.¡± ¡°Chu¡­ Chuu¡­¡± The ivy I was clutching onto was rooted securely into the ceiling so it should be able to support my weight. In that case, I loosened my grip, fluttered my wings, and vaguely clung onto the vine as I gradually descended down into the hole. TN: If you¡¯re wondering what the name of the chapter meant ¨C Jugemu is a saying/name from a folktale that roughly translates to having an everlasting life, but in this case, the author replaces the ÊÙ(ju) in ÊÙÏÞŸo(jugemu) with …â(ju), the character for curse. I also ¡°untranslated¡± her title to avoid confusion later on. If you¡¯re feeling puzzled now, don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re not supposed to know what this is yet. CH 43 CNP General Thread @ 7 1 : Cursed Anonymous This is a thread created with the purpose of talking about Curse Nightmare Party If anyone wants to discuss strategy information or any other specific topic, please create another thread. In the case that a post is written in a way that contradicts public policy, it may very well be deleted under supervision of management. >950, take care of the next thread please. ¡­ 265 : Cursed Anonymous Now that it¡¯s been a week since the servers opened, How¡¯s the progress on the dungeons? 266 : Cursed Anonymous A week already, huh¡­ Time sure flies by quick. 267 : Cursed Anonymous If you¡¯re using a weird character, you¡¯re forced to spend around 3 days devoting yourself to learning it, so some people can¡¯t really say it¡¯s been a week yet. 268 : Cursed Anonymous >265 Not making any progress here. The dungeons are way too difficult¡­ 269 : Cursed Anonymous Rather than having hit-or-miss characters, I think it¡¯s the initial curses¡¯ differences in ease of usability that has become so much more apparent. All thanks to the noble sacrifices of the inspection team. 270 : Cursed Anonymous True that. They resolved themselves in getting a late start when it came to the actual game guide and made the most out of the entirety of their 3 day unlimited character recreating period. I couldn¡¯t be any more grateful. 271 : Cursed Anonymous So, which characters are considered a hit or a miss? I plan on recommending the game to a real life friend during the upcoming event and wanted to be a bit more informed. 272 : Cursed Anonymous >271 Pick the semi-auto creator and you¡¯ll be fine overall. 273 : Cursed Anonymous Just go with semi-auto. Don¡¯t sign the contract. 274 : Cursed Anonymous If you don¡¯t have a clear idea of what playstyle you wanted to go for, then choose semi-auto. Also,¡ºCNP¡»is definitely somewhat of an acquired taste, so don¡¯t be too pressuring when you do recommend it. 275 : Cursed Anonymous >271 If we¡¯re seriously talking about what¡¯s good or bad, If you get something that fits your qualities or style, then that¡¯s good, it¡¯s a hit. A miss would be¡­ mainly things that affect your vision or something that¡¯s adapted to a specific environment. For now, just don¡¯t pick anything that doesn¡¯t show up in the semi-auto option 276 : Cursed Anonymous >275 Additional Information Changes To Vision : Affects your vision in ways such as increasing your eyes or giving you compound eyes. If you don¡¯t have the aptitude for it, you won¡¯t be able to endure the visual changes and end up tired or dizzy. Environmental Adaptations : Makes it easier for you to adapt to your special environment though changes like transforming your lower half into a fish, allowing you to levitate, having your skin resist heat, etc. At face value, it looks advantageous, but there¡¯s nothing but disadvantages. 277 : Cursed Anonymous >276 Is it really that bad? Levitation sounds like it¡¯d be great though. 278 : Cursed Anonymous >277 Levitation is by far the worst of them all. You can¡¯t swing weapons properly, let alone walk for that matter. Even among the bad curses you could get, it¡¯s a total dud. It¡¯s to the point where you can consider dropping it even if it does show up in semi-auto. None of the players in the inspection team felt like they could handle dealing with it. Sure, you could say that it had its perks in being able to dodge things that were grounded, but there were still way too many drawbacks to it. 279 : Cursed Anonymous Uwaa¡­ CH 44 ¡°Phew, at long last.¡± ¡°Chuu¡± I started knitting the dangling meat fern flower vines on Friday while taking breaks and collecting more materials in between my work. On Saturday night, it finally managed to take shape. With that said, I tried spreading it out inside the safety area. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s a great-looking net.¡± What I created was a net made of out dangling meat fern flower vines woven into a lattice shape. I¡¯d like to call it a cloth, but there were subtle gaps, it was uneven, and pretty roughly patched together, so I referred to it as a net instead. Also, the ends of some of the vines were covered in moss so that they could be stuck to walls, ceilings, or floors. Of course, when I was still in the process of knitting, I already checked to make sure that the vines wouldn¡¯t wilt even if I stuck the moss on the vines to the floor. ¡°Now, to the grudge table.¡± I rolled up the dangling meat fern flower net and set it on top of the grudge table, hoping to increase its strength and to keep monsters from bypassing it wherever I decide to put it up at. Yep, it was one of the counter-measures that I¡¯d thought up of for Venomulard. This was my answer to his rat underlings that will certainly appear and attack from somewhere once he calls on them. Undeniably, there were countless holes in it, but I believe the odds of me winning will largely differ depending on whether or not I had this net. ¡°And it¡¯s done.¡± CH 45 ¡°Preparations complete.¡± ¡°Chuu¡± Sunday. There was just about a week left before the start of the event. After finishing all my preparations which included the dangling meat fern flower net, I headed to the depths of the 3rd floor for my revenge match against Venomulard. ¡°Now then¡­¡± In the far end of the 3rd floor¡­ I spotted him. Venomulard, the¡ºLeader Of The Poison Rats¡»was in his improvised bed, which looked to be thrown together using dangling meat fern flower vines and he was scarfing down a bloomed dangling meat fern flower. To be honest, I didn¡¯t really have to go out of my way to defeat Venomulard like this. As a matter of fact, depending on how the dungeon works, there might even be a possibility that he shouldn¡¯t be taken down. Something that accumulated and contained the curse was supposedly somewhere within this ordinary concrete building and I¡¯m not entirely too sure what it was exactly, but it was likely what made this dungeon a dungeon in this first place. So, if Venomulard ends up severely injured in this upcoming fight and the dungeon starts to tremor, I guess I should fall back at that point. Although¡­ looking at the broken cage on the 3rd floor, I have a hard time believing that Venomulard becoming a monster was the trigger for the dungeon appearing. Rather, it seems more like the dungeon called, the¡ºTower of Mice¡»manifested and in turn, caused Venomulard to transform into the monster that he is. Which means, it was probably okay for me to defeat Venomulard. ¡°CHARGE!¡± ¡°CHUU!¡± ¡°Mmu!?¡± I leaped out from behind the corner and boldly flew towards Venomulard. ¡°You flying insect!¡± In response, Venomulard tosses the dangling meat fern flower away and opens his mouth towards me, unleashing a salvo of venom. It was an attack that clearly showed his intentions on not allowing me to get any closer. ¡°Hmph!¡± ¡°What!?¡± However, before the venom could explode, I caught it with the poison receiving bag and stored it away, rendering it irrelevant. I held my poison receiving bag at the ready and conversely, I even sped up to quell the poison. ¡°Sei!¡± ¡°As if that¡¯ll work!¡± Then, while I was pulling out my rat flail, I further accelerated my flight. I twisted in addition to give the flail some more momentum and tried to slam it against Venomulard¡¯s head, but he accurately stopped the blow with his arm, preventing my attack. CH 46 ¡°Jyuou! Hmph! Sei!¡± ¡°Fufufufufuu¡± The fight between me and Venomulard persists. In order to crush me, Venomulard pounces at me, thrashes with his front limbs and tail, sends out a barrage of venom, and disperses his poison mist. In response, I didn¡¯t overlook even a single sign of Venomulard¡¯s movements as a means to accurately avoid his attacks and pile up counter-attacks for myself. Of course, I also remembered to maintain the poison effect on Venomulard by minorly applying¡ºTaruwiveno¡». ¡°Damned¡­ WINGED INSECT!¡± ¡°Fuhahahahah¡± It would appear that I had stacked up too much poison on him. Venomulard mustered his strength and cleared away the 35 stacks of poison that I¡¯d accumulated. ¡°Ahahahahahaa! How fun!!¡± ¡°Ggu!?¡± I nimbly approached and punctured Venomulard with the tooth knife as I was passing by, then immediately kicked away from his body as I pulled the knife back out while twirling about. Following that, I also used around 3 of my eyes to cast¡ºMagic Eye Of Poison?£±£«£«¡»and inflicted 10 Poison onto him. ¡°Again with that!¡± Venomulard¡¯s poison cleanse had a cooldown of approximately 30 seconds. Maybe it was because of its cost and my attacks, but although he was dispelling even the slightest bit of poison earlier, now he only seems to use it when it was bordering close to 30. The cost of my poison attacks was 5 HP for the tooth knife, and 10 for¡ºMagic Eye Of Poison?£±£«£«¡» . Which means, it¡¯s probably best to keep the poison at around 20 stacks. Ahh, this was truly enjoyable. It¡¯s so much fun figuring out the optimal amount of poison to use and unraveling the unknown along with it. ¡°Disappear¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already seen that many times over, you know?¡± Venomulard hurls out his venom. In return, I flew diagonally behind it. Why didn¡¯t I fly ahead and away? That¡¯s¡­ ¡°Ghu!?¡± ¡°So I could judge the distance of the explosion with how willing he was to harm himself.¡± I¡¯ve caught Venomulard¡¯s venom with my poison receiving bag numerous times and could see that he had enough since he was trying to adjust the range of the explosion to finish me off. CH 47 ¡°Now then, I¡¯ve got to get started on a bunch of stuff.¡± I was able to defeat Venomulard, most likely because various things worked in my favor. When I went to retrieve the potion kettle, I also collected Venomulard¡¯s corpse and stuffed it into my Poisonous Bite Rat¡¯s Fur Bag. Looks like it managed to fit thanks to the disintegration. My right hand¡­ will probably heal itself once I return to the safety area. The other items¡­ seem beyond repair. My Rat Flail was completely broken, the tooth knife used in the battle was in the same state, and the rebar with attached concrete was smashed into smithereens as well. ¡°Sei!¡± I shifted the dangling meat fern flower vines that made up Venomulard¡¯s bed to uncover what he was hiding. ¡°A book? No, a diary maybe?¡± What laid there was a diary, clad in a dark, sinister aura. It seems like this was the center of the curse within the¡ºTower of Mice¡» I reached over to pick it up but¡­ before my hand made contact, a translucent screen emerged in front of me. ¡°Heh¡­ That¡¯s pretty interesting.¡± 3 choices appeared. Destroy, Preserve, and Claim. By destroying the center of curse which was the diary, the dungeon itself would collapse as well. If the dungeon disappears, I¡¯d be all out of options so this wasn¡¯t really something I could select. CH 48 ¡°Now then, onto the dismantling.¡± ¡°Chuu¡­ Chu!?¡± I returned to the safety area, took Venomulard¡¯s corpse out of the fur bag and set my Poison Rat¡¯s Pointed Hat on the floor. All because I didn¡¯t want to waste whatever would spew out starting now. With that in mind, I began the dismantling. ¡°Nomnom¡­¡± I peeled the skin off of Venomulard and let the blood soak into the Poison Rat¡¯s Pointed Hat. I partook in his flesh and arranged the bones as neatly as I could. In addition, I also collected as many special parts as I was able to, like his tail and claws. His internal organs¡­ aside from the brain, everything else was no good. The tiara that was on top of Venomulard¡¯s head had vanished too. There was nothing I could do about it so I moved on. My Poison Rat¡¯s Pointed Hat was stained in red from all the blood it had bathed in and I further smeared Venomulard¡¯s brain on it, plastering it all over. By the way, compared to the meat from the regular rats, Venomulard actually tasted good even though his flesh contained toxins and gave me food poisoning. Does this mean that the stronger the monster is, the better it¡¯ll taste? It seems there¡¯s still hope for the future when it comes to good-tasting food inside¡ºCNP¡». ?Title¡ºIf You Eat Poison, Lick The Plate?£²¡»,¡ºIron Stomach?2¡»,¡ºGluttony ?2¡»has been acquired? ¡°Nomgh!?¡± I ended up getting 3 titles somehow after completing the dismantlement. Actually, it¡¯s rank up of the previous titles, so it¡¯ll overwrite them. For the time being, I¡¯ll just take a look at their details. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºIf You Eat Poison, Lick The Plate?£²¡» Effect: Weakens the effects of ingested poison. (Small) Requirement: Eat more than a certain amount of poisoned food. Poisonous or not, it¡¯s still edible so who cares. ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºIron Stomach?2¡» Effect: Weakens the effects of food poisoning. (Small) Requirement: Eat more than a certain amount of food that causes food poisoning. Between dying from an upset stomach and dying from hunger, I¡¯d pick the former. ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºGluttony ?2¡» Effect: Gain resistance to attacks that directly reduce one¡¯s satiety. (Small) Requirement: Eat more than a certain amount while satiety was at max. Previous ¨C Title ¨C Next TN: This is going to be a bit long so you can skip it if you don¡¯t particularly care about how Taru and Zarichu derive from Zoroastrianism or if you¡¯re already familiar with it. Note that there are multiple interpretations and relatively very little written on these two. Just like Taurvi/Taruwi, Zarich/Zarichu is derived from Zoroastrianism. The former is considered to be the personification of fever and hunger, whether it be for actual food, knowledge, or more. The latter, Zarichu is somewhat of a parallel towards Taruwi, serving as the embodiment of thirst and aging. They¡¯re regarded as demons that contrast with a pair of deities, Haurvatat and Ameretat. Haurvatat associates with water, representing spiritual wholeness and perfection while Ameretat is often related to agriculture. When the world reaches its end, these two will eliminate all hunger and thirst, ascending humanity into immortal beings. Together, Taurvi and Zarich opposes the both of them. Zarich creates the poison that infects the plants and Taurvi administers it into the water. It¡¯s up to how you interpret it, but these two demons aren¡¯t necessarily evil, at least not without reason. How can you ascend to perfection while not knowing failure? This is sort of how they challenge the concept. Let¡¯s say you¡¯re seeking shelter. How will you obtain it? Will you create one from scratch? Do you persuade someone to allow you to settle in with them? Or, will you pillage and take over another¡¯s home? They¡¯re all valid solutions to the problem at hand and Taurvi doesn¡¯t care whichever one you choose as long as you don¡¯t get it for free. If Haurvatat and Ameretat represent perfection and the ideal, Taurvi and Zarich symbolize the desperation and hunger to get there through betterment of one¡¯s self. CH 49 ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll have to tread carefully here.¡± Judging from what happened during the fight with Venomulard, the venom inside of the poison receiving bag would explode as soon as it comes in contact with the air. So if I carelessly ripped open the bag, I could lose the item. Worst case scenario, my entire upper body might even be erased. ¡°First, let¡¯s take out the poison gland from Venomulard¡¯s tail.¡± Of course, the best case scenario would be to safely extract all the venom and successfully create an item out of it to strengthen¡ºTaruwiveno¡» Which means, I should do all I can to make that happen, right? With that in mind, I severed Venomulard¡¯s tail and removed an object containing poisonous liquid that looked far more viscous than the Young Poisonous Rats¡¯ I had¡­ a few theories as to why the tail of Venomulard, who was fully grown, was comprised of venom. Maybe Venomulard was seeking to further his sorceries regarding poison and needed it to serve as a foundation for that. Or, perhaps he was actually still growing despite his appearance. Or, he had poison in his tail so it would gush out as a counter attack once his tail was cut. ¡°Now we just put this in.¡± ¡°Taruwichuu¡± I broke open the poison gland right above the poison receiving bag and the venom that was inside poured out into the bag. When I did that, the bag began deforming as it was making some unusual burbling noises but¡­ well, it¡¯s probably fine. Then, I wrapped dangling meat fern flower vines around the disfigured poison receiving bag. I guess wrapping it around 3 times or so seems alright. ¡°Hwuu¡­ haah¡­¡± Time to brace myself. I placed the poison receiving bag on top of my usual tea bowl and held the tooth knife at the crevice between the vines. Now, the bag should tear if I even slightly pushed into it. ¡°Sei!¡± I stabbed the tooth knife in and ruptured the bag. ¡°Hn¡­!!¡± At the same time, I heard and felt something explode from behind the vines. However, because the triple layered wall of vines¡¯ had increased strength from the curse concentration around it, it was as sturdy as I expected to be and there seemingly wasn¡¯t any damage. A dark green liquid leaked from between the gaps of the dangling meat fern flower vines and spilled into the tea bowl, going all accordingly to my plan. Since I succeeded in collecting it, I¡¯ll also appraise it for now. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºLeader Of The Poison Rats¡»¡¯s Venom Mixture Level: 7 Durability: 100/100 Interference: 100 Corruption: 100/100 Abnormalities: 10 A mixture containing the venom of Venomulard and the product of the sorcery,¡ºRat-bite Fever Creation¡» As the poison that¡¯s used by the boss of the poison rats, it is far stronger than the ones used by his underlings. It is most effective when it enters the bloodstream, but will show effects on skin contact as well. If conditions are met, it can also explode and scatter. The time it takes for it to decompose is dependent on the surrounding temperature. CH 50 [Hmm?] [Good evening, Taru-sama] Monday. I had finished my lecture at the university and was about to log in to ¡ºCNP¡»when I was stopped at the login screen by a man in a butler''s uniform ...... C7-096. Apparently, he wanted to talk to me about something. [How may I help you?] [I am here to explain about the event that will take place next Sunday] Apparently, the event is less than a week away, he is going explain here so that users who have not yet visited the official site will be informed. However, I had already checked the official site beforehand, so I skipped most of the explanation. [This will be the prototype of the avatar you will use in the spectator area on the day of the event. Actually, the clothing will change depending on the items that Taru-sama possess that day, but there won''t be much different.] [Hmmm] The part that could not be skipped was the part to check the avatars with deformity level of 3 or less to be used in the spectator area on the day of the event. The avatar that appeared had orange hair, rainbow eyes, and skin that was whiter than white, but¡­ the hair grew waist length, and she had only three eyes: two on her face and one between her collarbones. It doesn''t have insect wings, and it doesn''t float in the air. It''s kind of like adding the real me and the ¡ºCNP¡»me and dividing it in a way that is much closer to the real me. [Was it the PvP countermeasure and the lack of curse concentration?] [In addition, it will make it easier to navigate and interact in the city. There is also the intention of saying that we don''t want to startle the guest players too much. For my part, I think it would be better for people not to come to ¡ºCNP¡»in the first place if they are frightened by the level of deformity, but I have no choice but to comply with the management. So, unfortunately, I can''t do anything to increase the level of deformity] [Hmmm] To be honest, it''s not enough, but ...... well, it can''t be helped. I''ll only be using the spectator area anyway, so there''s no need to get so hung up on it. ---------- [Login] [Chuutaruwitchu] I logged in and was welcomed by Zarichu as usual, but for now I look at the cup of poison rats that I created yesterday. The cup of poisonous rat is ... [Uwaa¡­] [Chuu] It was filled with a dark green liquid, spilling and pooling on the floor of the safety area little by little. Yeah, let''s just surround the perimeter with hanging flesh flower fern vines with the leaves still attached. Let''s get it well under control. [Now then, I''m going to have to process Venomlard''s fur] [Chu] I pick up the fur of the ¡ºPoisonous Rat¡¯s Leader¡»that I keep in my room. The size is large enough for two of me, but there are some holes and cuts due to weathering. So I did not turn this into clothing. [Though I cut it to a reasonable size, made a hole and connected it with the hanging flesh fern tendrils] I made a fur like a bandage, and at regular intervals, I cut holes in the fur and wove in drooping fleshflower fern tendrils, as well as applying a coat of polished drooping fleshflower fern leaves to the fur. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow or later. So, I logged out. ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºSpawn of Jugemu¡»?Taru Level 8 HP£º1,070/1,070 Satiety: 100/100 Interference power£º107 Deformity£º19 Immortality, Insect wings x 6, Increased eyes x 11, Levitation Titles: ¡ºSpawn of Jugemu¡», ¡ºRaw Food Beginner¡», ¡ºUnusual Cuisine Eating?1¡», ¡ºIf You Eat Poison, Lick the Dish?2¡», ¡ºIron Stomach?2¡», ¡ºFirst Curse Production¡», ¡ºFirst Cursed Production¡», ¡ºPoison User¡», ¡ºInsufficient Curse¡», ¡ºGluttony?2¡», ¡ºFirst Acquisition of Sorcery¡», ¡ºHide and Seek?£±¡», ¡ºDungeon Master¡», ¡ºItem With Sentience¡», ¡ºItem With Titles¡», ¡ºCursed Daredevil¡» Sorcery / Evil Eye: ¡ºPoisonous Evil Eye?£±¡»Taruwiveno Items in possession: Cursed Bandage Clothes, ¡ºStrange Rat Hat¡»Zarichu, Loupe for Appraisal, Poison-Biting Rat¡¯s Tooth Knife, Poison-Biting Rat¡¯s Fur Bag, Potion Kettle etc. Owned Dungeon: ¡ºTower of Mice ¡» CH 51 [Login] [Taruwitchuu] Yes, Tuesday''s login. Today I''ll be playing around with the¡ºTower of Mice¡»a lot. Even wearing the Cursed Bandage Clothes, as long as I am the center of the curse that maintains ¡ºTower of Mice¡», I cannot leave the ¡ºTower of Mice¡» [Hmm? Visit history? Oh, I see. Someone followed the tendrils of the drooping fleshflower fern] Apparently, while I was logged out, several people who appeared to be players hadentered¡ºTower of Mice¡» In the form of a screenshot, I was able to confirm the appearance of the players who came in. The player names are missing¡­ Well, it¡¯s¡ºCNP¡», if you want to know, you should appraise in person. [Well, it looks like all they did was look at the entrance safety area and that¡¯s it] Unfortunately for them, the current ¡ºTower of Mice¡»only allows players to enter up to the safety area at the entrance of the dungeon, so I don''t have to worry about them doing anything. NPC¡­ doesn''t seem to be there yet Well, never mind then [Let¡¯s see, I¡¯ll play the structure of the third layer] ¡ºSpawn of Jugemu¡», ¡ºRaw Food Beginner¡», ¡ºUnusual Cuisine Eating?1¡», ¡ºIf You Eat Poison, Lick the Dish?2¡», ¡ºIron Stomach?2¡», ¡ºFirst Curse Production¡», ¡ºFirst Cursed Production¡», ¡ºPoison User¡», ¡ºInsufficient Curse¡», ¡ºGluttony?2¡», ¡ºFirst Acquisition of Sorcery¡», ¡ºHide and Seek?£±¡», ¡ºDungeon Master¡», ¡ºItem With Sentience¡», ¡ºItem With Titles¡», ¡ºCursed Daredevil¡» Sorcery / Evil Eye: ¡ºPoisonous Evil Eye?£±¡»Taruwiveno Items in possession: Cursed Bandage Clothes, ¡ºStrange Rat Hat¡»Zarichu, Loupe for Appraisal, Poison-Biting Rat¡¯s Tooth Knife, Poison-Biting Rat¡¯s Fur Bag, Potion Kettle etc. Owned Dungeon: ¡ºDamavand ¡» CH 52 [Now then... forward check, above check, right check, left check, rear check, no runway issues, target confirmed](TL: Fairy 1, you¡¯re clear for take-off) Standing on the wall of the fifth layer, I checked the surroundings and decide where to fly The destination is a few buildings away, an area that seems to have a higher concentration of curse than the surroundings It''s a dungeon that looks like it could be occurring in the middle of a crumbling building [Well then~, hop~, step~, juuummppp!~] I rushed over the wall and accelerated At the third step, I took a vigorous leap off the building I went outside of the¡ºTower of Mice¡»which is now called ¡ºDamavand¡» The concentration of curses around me decreased [I caaaaannnnn flyyyyyyy!!!!] [Chuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!] However, the decrease in the curse concentration stopped midway, and no abnormal condition due to insufficient curse concentration occurred I ... I was able to get out of the dungeon [Fufufu, I wonder how far I can go] Of course, even though I¡¯m now able to go outside, my body feels heavy due to the slight decrease of physical ability caused by the decrease in the curse concentration and the lack of level for the equipment, and my altitude is steadily decreasing even when I¡¯m moving my wings full force However, the speed of the fall is slow enough, and if I flapped my wings with all my might, the effect of levitation will prevent a stupid scenario of falling to death Soaring freely in the sky at sunset without being attacked by enemies, yes, it is indeed a good experience CH 53 [Hmmm¡­] [Chuu¡­] Well, three days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was steadily exploring the building below ¡ºDamavand¡» while preparing for the event However, in addition to the weathering, probably due to the many things that had happened before the game started, we did not find anything in particular in the building that we could use At best, there are small accessory that has successfully escaped weathering [I knew from that diary that this building was originally meant to be a shelter] In addition, the safety area in ¡ºDamavand¡» is probably due to various things that would make it a good destination for a transfer I didn''t encounter any other players while exploring the building The only living thing that I encounter are the poison-biting and poison-spitting rats that have lef¡ºDamavand¡», and they flee when they see me, probably because I am the ruler of ¡ºDamavand¡» Well, even if they attack me, if it''s one-on-one, I¡¯ll just finish them off with¡ºPoisonous Evil Eye ?1¡» [So, this collapse has made it impossible to escape] [Chuu] There are collapsed stairs and floors in front of me The height is...... It seems that this building has an underground, almost 20 meters to the bottom All that remains are reinforced concrete columns It would be difficult for ordinary human beings to get out of here [The hanging fleshflower fern vine...... probably impossible to use. And considering the monsters, I probably can¡¯t build a slope downhill either] Now, like other players and mice, you can climb by using the vines of the hanging flesh fern that hang down along the outer wall of the building, and if you just want to get off, you can fly to the place where the rubble overlaps well You can come and go without needing to flying However, considering the various things that would have happened when the civilization at the time of this building collapsed ... it would be impossible CH 54 [Now then, let''s first repair it] [Chuu] After retrieving the iron pipe, I returned to the safety area and began its repair However, there are not enough items to restore durability normally. So, to fill the hole in the iron pipe, I used a special repair material that is a mixture of the bones and teeth of a poison-biting rat that have been ground into powder and the leaves of a drooping fleshflower fern that have been ground into a paste Of course, in reality, there is no way we can repair it with something like this However, this is not reality, but a game world called ¡ºCNP¡» Once the rusted parts are covered up, I placed it on the cursing table [Rust removal, restoration, may it be strong, may it be sturdy, may it be strong-] And here is the result of cursing ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ Poisonous Rat¡¯s Iron Pipe Level: 3 Durabiltiy£º100/100 Interference Power£º100 Erosion Rate£º100/100 Deformity£º£± A metal pipe made of bone and steel Any water that passes through it will be contaminated with poison CH 55 [Now, first of all, let¡¯s change our title] Saturday The first thing I did was change the title The current title¡ºSpawn of Jugemu¡»is obtained by having an initial deformity level of 16 or higher, so when a person has this title, no matter how human-like he or she appears in the interaction area, it is clear that his or her actual appearance is inhuman That doesn''t necessarily mean it will cause trouble, but there are some problems that can be avoided by changing to a safe title In that sense, it would be safe to say that¡ºFirst Acquisition of Sorcery¡»,¡ºDungeon Master¡», ¡ºItem with Sentience¡», ¡ºItem with Titles¡», should be hidden as well Especially if they see¡ºDungeon Master¡», I have a bad feeling [Nnn¡­] Also, in the PvP event, it would be an important matter to keep my fighting style a secret There is no point screwing yourself by showing your title, even if it will eventually be found out So, I don''t want to give out ¡ºPoison User¡»or ¡ºHide and Seek?£±¡»either. CH 56 ?The event ¡ºThe Cursed Nightmare Feast of the Saint¡»will start? The first event of ¡ºCNP¡»started at 10:00 on Sunday On schedule, The show starts at 10:00 real time and the exchange begins at the exchange map Qualifying on a special map for one hour from 12:00 to 13:00 real time, taking up to a full day in subjective time The event will be held for two hours from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. real time, with a break at the exchange map, during which there will be some commentary around the qualifiers The main competition will begin at 3:00 p.m. real time and move directly to the awards ceremony after the competition The event is scheduled to end at 17:00 real time Was it? Well, I had an early real lunch and made sure to go to the bathroom of sorts, so I should be fine [¡­] The surrounding landscape changes Buildings made of stone, wood, and concrete, lined with street trees, bare ground, and a cloudless blue sky People appeared out of nowhere and you begin to see them walking around, looking around or talking to someone And then I started appearing.... [To¡­tsuu!?] As soon as the emergence was complete, I almost lost my posture and hurriedly supported myself with the Poison Rat¡¯s Flail in his hand Apparently, I was able to successfully log in with a avatar with low level of deformity that is exclusively for the exchange area [Fuuu, dangerous, dangerous] It seems possible, but ... still, low deformity avatars are difficult for me to handle I can''t maintain my posture well because I feel like I''m controlling my posture using the wings of insects under the influence of normal levitation In addition, the amount of information provided by visuals is far from enough, since we can only see straight ahead, including the eye between the collarbones It''s inconvenient, even while I''m in the exchange area CH 57 ¡ºTaru, we''re at the fountain. After raising your right hand, Can you lightly turn it once?¡» [I understand] Following the instructions from Zaria, I switched the Poison Rat¡¯s Flail to my left hand and then moved my right hand as instructed Then an armed woman with succulent hair approaches, having noticed me It appears that she is Zarya [Taru¡­ is it?] [Yes, it is. Zarya. If you want, you can have it confirmed by using appraisal] [Then, excuse me. Oh, you can appraise too, Taru] [Okay] I and presumably Zarya pointed the¡ºLoupe of Appraisal¡»at each other and appraised Then, at the same time that you feel the sensation of being looked at, Zarya''s status is displayed ¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷¡÷ ¡ºCursed Swordfighter¡»?Zarya Level 7 HP£º1,060/1,060 ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ¨Œ CH 58 [Then, from me. I''m Zarya. My deformity level is originally 3, so it¡¯s the same. I guess that''s how I introduce myself. Well, I don''t think it''s necessary to give out more information than necessary. I''m sure everyone will be participating in the event] [Dana] Zarya introduced herself first Apparently, Zarya has no curses other than succulent hair and a few thorns growing from her left shoulder I think the weapons are...... the sword at her waist and a small shield [Jyaaa, I¡¯m Black Clover. Usually a wolf with a solid black head. Right now it''s just dog ears and a tail] [Black Clover? You?] [Yeah, I am] The second is a man with dark hair, Black Clover It seems he is a werewolf He must be about my age, but he seems somehow frivolous [Next is me, Shirohua. I''m the same. Oh, I''m also a real sister of Black Clover] [Oh, that''s right] [I didn''t realize it until this morning, though] [I noticed and kept my mouth shut] The third is Shirohua, a woman with white cat ears and a tail She seems to be the sister of Black Clover Probably high school age [It''s Onga. Well, I don''t have any special features?] CH 59 [Winner, Red Corner!] [Uoooooooo!] [ [ [ ©`©`©`©`©`£¡£¡] ] ] The mock battle in the square was more exciting than I expected There are a number of stalls set up by players and a good number of spectators And on the stage of the mock battle, the man who had just triumphed, with a single horn from his forehead and a tail with dinosaur-like spines sprouting from his waist, and clawed fingertips on both hands and feet, roared [Zarya. What are the rules for mock battles here?] [You lose if you run out of HP or are out of the field. One-on-one only. On stage, the avatar will be the usual. After the mock battle ends, you will return to the state you were in before the mock battle ended. If you win, you get experience, unlike normal PK. I guess that''s about it] [I see] The current winner steps off the stage and the fingers of both hands and feet turn into those of a human Indeed, the degree of deformity seems to have increased only on stage Then, the next participant moved to the stage Immediately a mock battle began [By the way, is Taru going to participate in the mock battle?] [No. I don''t want to expose my cards right here and now] [I see] The next participant¡­. when did you apply, its Black Clover As he said, he became a black werewolf as soon as he goes on stage On the other hand, is it a khaki dog? (TL: Khaki https://www.google.com/search?q=khaki&oq=khaki&aqs=chrome..69i57.313j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 ) CH 60 CNP Event Thread @ 2 1 : Cursed Anonymous This will be the thread to talk about the "Curse Nightmare Party" event In the event of a post that violates public decency, the post may be deleted at the discretion of the management Please let >950 start the next thread ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. 112 : Cursed Anonymous It¡¯s the event aaahhhhhh!! 113 : Cursed Anonymous Get in 114 : Cursed Anonymous Waaiii ^ ^ 115 : Cursed Anonymous Oshaaaa Ora!! Let¡¯s do this!! 116 : Cursed Anonymous Oh, it''s already quite busy I didn''t know there were this many people playing this game 117 : Cursed Anonymous That''s it This is what happens when the log-in time is covered by an event 118 : Cursed Anonymous Test Test 119 : Cursed Anonymous Faaaaaa! 120 : Cursed Anonymous Guests!? 121 : Cursed Anonymous Oh, Can guests write too?.... I''m a little worried 122 : Cursed Anonymous Its 118. It looks like I can write one However, in order to write as a guest, you have to submit some real information to the management and you also need to read the terms properly So I don''t think you need to worry about vandalism or anything like that After that, it seems that there is a limit to the reload time, or the frequency of writing 123 : Cursed Anonymous Aaa. I see. Guest to the end Is it like you can''t do any real-life stuff? 124 : Cursed Anonymous Ok, if you have any questions, you can post them in the question board The flow over here is going to be bad sooner or later 125 : Cursed Anonymous Thank you 126 : Cursed Anonymous Courteous people are welcome! 127 : Cursed Anonymous There was a really cool player What''s that ... Slut? 128 : Cursed Anonymous Ha? 129 : Cursed Anonymous k w s k (TL: JP slang for ¡°Details, please¡± apparently) 130 : Cursed Anonymous Gataa 131 : Cursed Anonymous CH 61 Thanks to the patron, HT G! Chapter 61: 1st Nightmare Heat ¨C 1 ¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°Are you heating up, you monsters!¡± ¡°Ueeeeei! Wait, eh?¡± ¡°Bro¡­¡± Around 30 minutes in game time until the preliminary matches begin. We returned to our private room. What showed up in the TV was the logo of the Top Hunt company and a blue deformed jellyfish creature. The word Admin was shown on screen, and the voice that could be heard was that of a woman. Ah, ignoring Brablack. ¡°I am an admin of the CNP, ThousandTwists. I am in charge of the event and PR.¡± (ThousandTwists) I thought at first that it was a plushie or something, but it seems like she is using an avatar just like the ones we are, and the more than hundred jellyfish legs were moving independently. As expected of the admins. The way they use the fantastical avatars is on a whole different level from ours. ¡°Eh? You ask why I am not using a humanoid avatar? You don¡¯t get it. This is an event of Curse Nightmare Party, you know? Gotta look the part. And so, I have invited guests from outside, but we will be upholding our path. I would like you guys to be excited and long for it.¡± (ThousandTwists) ThousandTwists twisted its legs 170¡ã as if showing off its jellyfish body, tied up several of its tentacles into what looked like a hand and pointed here. Yeah, that¡¯s some incredible avatar prowess. I would like to use my body better, too. ¡°Now then, time is gold, so let¡¯s proceed with talking about the event.¡± (ThousandTwists) ThousandTwists begins explaining about the preliminary matches. That said, she is most likely assuming the participants have already read the details of the event themselves, so the explanation was pretty simplified. ¡°Now then, that about does it for the outline, but there have been some minor changes here and there. There are some pretty important ones, too, so participants, make sure you don¡¯t miss out on what I am going to say.¡± (ThousandTwists) ¡°A change, huh.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± We all tense up at this. The admin has gone out of her way to point out that this is important, so it would be foolish not to hear her out. ¡°First of all, the participants of this event are a shocking 36,212 people. This is a number that far exceeds what the administration expected. Man, this is wonderful!¡± (ThousandTwists) ¡°It is impressive how many gathered. I thought there would be less.¡± ¡°Well, the details of the first event were announced before the service of the game began after all. The people that liked it must have gathered.¡± ThousandTwists raised a placard with the word Thanks and tap danced. That sight of her tap dancing without tangling up her more than hundred legs was truly splendid. ¡°But if we are going to divide them into 16 groups for the preliminary contest, each group will have too many people. We will make a change there.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°To be more precise, we will change the numbers of the groups. We will make an increase from 16 to 32. Because of this, the tournament will have more battles, so the schedule will be moved a bit. Please confirm the details about it at your own convenience. We won¡¯t be making any unreasonable adjustments, so please don¡¯t worry.¡± (ThousandTwists) ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°And so, lastly, I will announce the number of players participating in one group. The numbers are¡­¡± (ThousandTwists) A drumroll began. The rhythm increased little by little, and¡­ ¡°1,132 or 1,131. And¡­only one will be advancing to the main event!¡± (ThousandTwists) She announced. ¡°I did hear it was over a thousand, but¡­it really is a lot.¡± ¡°I feel like the beginning will turn into a horrible melee.¡± ¡°I wonder about that. We don¡¯t use small arms but mostly close combat weapons. Considering that, it might mainly be a battle where you search for your enemy.¡± ¡°Gulp¡­¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t change what we are going to do.¡± ¡°Right, it doesn¡¯t. We win if we are the last ones remaining.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± More than a thousand fantastical creatures will be having a deathmatch. Yeah, I feel like it will become a real nightmare. I feel like there will be worth in participating just for being able to see that in person. ¡°Now then, there will be a bit of time before the beginning of the preliminary matches, but the participants that have finished their preparations, please push the enter button on your screen. It would be great if you were to prepare before the match begins.¡± (ThousandTwists) A button showed on the semi-transparent window. After exchanging glances with each other, we pushed our respective buttons and teleported to the waiting room. ¡°Hello, Tar-sama.¡± ¡°¡­¡± And then, at the Safe Area where I was moved to, C7-096 was there for some reason. ¡°What¡¯s your business?¡± (Tar) ¡°I wanted to get a number of agreements with you before the preliminary matches, Tar-sama. Ah, I don¡¯t mind if you leave it for later. There¡¯s no real issue even if we don¡¯t get your agreement.¡± (C7) ¡°Agreement?¡± (Tar) I checked again whether I am lacking in my own preparations, confirmed the rules of the preliminary matches, and did some warmup exercises just in case with the avatar I normally use. After I finished all that, I grabbed the documents that C7-096 gave me. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± (Tar) The details of the documents were for confirmation on how much information it is okay to disclose about the Demonic Eye Art: Poison Demonic Eye ¨C 1 Talwibeno. The reason for this being that if I were to do sorcery, there might be questions regarding that. This is information that I obtained with my own effort, so how much to disclose depends on me. And no matter what I decide, administration will be fully supporting me on that decision. ¡°I don¡¯t mind you disclosing the existence of sorcery. It would be super obvious, but please don¡¯t use words like Demonic Eye or Magic Eye. Also¡­since I have the chance here, how about copying only the taste of the sake cup¡¯s contents from the Poison Demonic Eye ¨C 1. I think most people will shut up if they drink that.¡± (Tar) ¡°Chua?! Chuchua, chuchu Tar chuchuaaa!!¡± ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s a splendid suggestion, Tar-sama. I will relay this to administration and discuss it with them. They have no right to complain about Tar-sama if they can¡¯t even drink that completely after all.¡± (C7) I respond with a smile. C7-096 also lifted the corner of his mouth and agreed with me. Zarichu is wailing intensely there, but C7-096 ignores it. ¡°Now then, Tar-sama, excuse me for taking your time, but I will be managing it from here on. Therefore, please enjoy the battles without any worries.¡± (C7) ¡°Yes, I will be enjoying them aplenty.¡± (Tar) C7-096 disappears. I ready myself after finishing my preparations. There¡¯s a timer shown in front of me. It is also showing Block 13 of the Preliminary Matches, so that must be my block. ¡°Countdown! 10¡­9¡­8¡­7¡­¡± ¡°Suuh¡­haaah¡­ The first step.¡± (Tar) ¡°6¡­5¡­4¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Zarichu.¡± (Tar) ¡°Chu.¡± ¡°3¡­2¡­1¡­¡± The timer goes down together with the voice of ThousandTwists echoing somewhere. ¡°0! Preliminary matches start!¡± And at the same time as it hit 0, the scenery around me made a complete change.