Shatei Kyokufuri Yumi-Ojisan - Chapter 188

Data.178 – Old Bowman, No Rules for the G’z

There were fewer battles in the second round.

And so we didn’t have to wait long until it was our turn.

Other recognizable players were moving ahead, and so I wanted to follow them as well!

‘And now for the 12th battle in the 2nd round! G’z vs Ghost Guild! The chosen field is…the Legendary Plateau!”

That meant it would be an area that was elevated over flat land. And when I looked at the monitor, the battlefield did have that appearance.

There were several plateaus, so if I camped on one of them, I would be able to shoot down at the ground or at the other plateaus.

As it would be the perfect position for me, I wanted to get up there as soon as possible…

‘Both parties to the battlefield!’

And so the Ghost Guild warped away to the Legendary Plateau.

　◆　◆　◆

“And the starting point is…the flat land.”

It would have been a great advantage to start on the plateau, but with my Range and Warp Arrow, it didn’t matter too much.

However, it would be scary if there was an enemy where I warped.

Most of them were the advance guard, and so I could be killed in an instant if I appeared close to them.

Especially if it was their Unison, Koromaro…

Rustle-rustle-…rustle…

The bushes were moving…!

Tsk. Was I going to meet the monster so soon…!

“Ah, Mr. Kyuji! We warped close together then!”

It was Necoco, not a dog that appeared from the bushes.

But just as I sighed with relief, the other bushes started to shake as well.

“Gar Gar!”

“Garbow! And…you’re all here!?”

The entire party had warped close together!

But I don’t think it was because we were lucky….but that we were all supposed to start in the same area this time.

“If we’re all together, then they are as well…”

Being together meant we could cover each other, but it also meant that there was a danger of us all dying in a single battle.

That being said, it still didn’t make sense to spread out when we were already here.

Because it would be over if one of us encountered the whole enemy party.

“It might be better to wait a little before using Warp Arrow. There are more trees on the field than I thought, which means there are plenty of places to hide. On the other hand, as there are no obstacles on the plateaus, people will be able to see you from below.”

The enemy must have done some research on me. And so if I shoot carelessly, they could find my position easily…

For now, it might be wiser to move quietly on the flat ground and try and ambush them.

“In any case, I’ll scatter the Gazer Fish so they can scout the place. Garbo. Gazer…”

‘Members of the Ghost Guild!!’

A booming voice seemed to shake the air as it echoed around us.

‘We will not run or hide! Let us fight boldly, one on one! Now, we each will climb one of the plateaus, red, blue, yellow and black, and there we will wait for you! So send one player to each!’

“So they’re just making their own rules now…!?”

I knew that getting older didn’t mean you got more flexible, but this was quite surprising…!

On this battlefield, you had the option of securing a high platform or hiding below.

But now they were just shouting at us to go to the plateau!

Besides, this was a party battle. So why should we ignore everything and fight solo…!

“What should we do? I don’t think they are being reasonable…”

“…They’ve really done it now. Had they asked us after we already attacked, it would sound like they were just making an excuse, and we could ignore them. But since they did it right as the battle started, the viewers will expect us to accept it.”

“But! These aren’t the rules established by management. So can’t we just ignore them and kill them one by one?”

Anne was being the realist here.

If all we cared about was winning by the rules, then she was right.

However, the thing that flashed through my mind after hearing her words was that it might look like we were ‘bullying the poor grandpas.’

And it was likely that the people who were watching would think the same. 

“This is a negotiation that is using honor as a shield. We’ll have to go along in order to avoid looking like a group that ignored and bullied the poor guys. Of course, it won’t affect the prize or trophy if we don’t, but it could affect our reputation…!”

“I agree that we have no choice but to accept. But if we do it here, won’t there be a lot of other parties doing the same later on? There is sure to be other parties that will have an advantage by challenging us while solo. Especially you, old man.”

I see. Like Necoco said, if they wanted to kill me easily, then it would be best to do it when I was solo and there was no advance guard.

But I had a feeling that the G’z weren’t even considering that.

It was all speculation, of course, but I thought that they were just trying to recreate the situations from classic manga, where the protagonist and friends take on the enemy generals.

The great sorcerer, hero, master, ronin. They wanted to experience something they dreamed of, but was impossible in real life…

That was what VR was all about.

“While I understand your concerns, Necoco, there is no need to worry. No one likes a rehash, and so we could ignore future challenges. And it’s the ignored that will look bad.”

“That’s probably true. Alright. Then let’s accept the challenge from these old men!”

“The problem is who will go to which plateau. Which player to which color…”

‘We will now announce your opponents!!!’

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

We could hardly believe our ears.

What? They were going to decide that too…?

‘At the red plateau, Odachi Ronin Koharu! And his opponent will be Thunder Blackcat Necoco!’

They were even assigning us nicknames…!

‘And at the blue plateau, Sly Hidden Blade Shishou! And his opponent will be the Phantom Master Satomi! While it is a 1 vs 1 duel, as he is a Unison Master, he will be granted special permission to use his Unison!’

The fact that they just barely avoided crossing the line was somehow even more infuriating…

‘And at the yellow plateau is the Golden Hero Yushia! His opponent is Madstar Sister Annemarie! Furthermore, as the Destruction God Koromaro is on this plateau, you would be advised to take Star Crushing Ancient Weapon Garbow with you!’

Now they were trying to separate me and Garbow…!

If you weren’t the original partner, then you wouldn’t know their skills and charge attacks, which meant you couldn’t make use of their full potential…but they probably didn’t know that.

After all, Koromaro moved independently…

‘And at the black plateau is Great Sorcerer Jiji! And his opponent is the Old Bowman Kyuji!’

Why am I the only one without a cool nickname…!

I don’t know. I would be too embarrassed to think of one myself, but I wanted a cool name…!

Old Bowman is nice and all, but just this one time…

No, calm down.

There was something else that bothered me.

While they were the ones choosing the opponents, it didn’t seem like they were giving themselves an advantage at all.

Necoco specialized in speed, but they sent her against someone with a huge sword.

Koromaro dealt physical, destructive attacks, and they sent it against Anne and Garbow, who had great defense.

And I was up against someone who used ranged attacks….

Only the Satomi and Shishou combination was unknown to me, but it looked like the G’z would be at a disadvantage overall.

Perhaps they really were only interested in an honest fight.

Though, their methods were quite forceful…

“That’s right, Mr. Kyuji. What if you waited for them to all take position on the plateaus, and then you used a cloud to camp above them and sniped them all from there?”

“Are you…angry?”

“I’m just joking. Let’s fight them head-on…and defeat them.”

I wouldn’t have believed it was a joke if things hadn’t been so advantageous for us.

However, since they had given us such an advantage, we couldn’t back down now.

This was a battle to protect our honor!