TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/Week Mon-fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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It didn''t take long for the orc javelineers guarded by goblin infantry to turn into mana stones. Apparently inspired by Irene''s growth, Manaashi had started rampaging like a madman.
Manaashi, once a 2.5m tall named naga warrior, had grown into a senior warrior blessed in the Goddess''s name. He''d also honed his muscle training techniques through interactions with Temple Knights.
In simple terms, a 3m giant had finished bulking up. It wasn''t a metaphor - his tree trunk-like body, enhanced with mana, was swinging around like a maniac. Watching the orc javelineers and goblins getting smashed by this rampage, I could understand why people die or get injured by ropes in disaster movies.
You know, in those scenes where a bridge collapses or a ship sinks, and huge metal cables start whipping around... While I was tougher, the difference in size meant his range of destruction was much wider. It was quite brutal.
"Whoa, that''s surprising. How did orcs get their hands on things like this?"
"Since they''re organized like an army, maybe they have some kind of supply base somewhere?"
Lukius, cheerfully collecting mana stones from the ravaged prairie, clicked his tongue as he examined a small crater left by an orc javelineer''s bomb.
Of course, next to it was a much larger area churned up by Manaashi rolling around, and there were plenty of deep grooves I''d made while smashing things, but he seemed to take those as a given. Lukius and McDonagh skillfully navigated the uneven ground, scraping up every last mana stone.
As they discussed the various alchemical bombs used by the orc javelineers, the topic naturally shifted to Irene''s barrier.
"By the way, this barrier is much tougher than I expected. It absorbed all the shockwaves that could crater the ground like this."
"I know, right? I even flinched when one went off under my feet, but it didn''t hurt at all. I didn''t even feel a shake."
Lukius, apparently a bit less skilled than Katie and McDonagh, couldn''t dodge all the randomly thrown bombs. He joked around, stomping his feet on the ground.
Still, I doubted it could block an attack from a berserk ogre. It''s best to think of it as something that can stop fragments and such. With its purification and immunity functions, it could completely negate wide-area CC skills. Even if we don''t realize it now, we might be able to cheese some mechanics related to this later.
I wasn''t the only one thinking along these lines. After seeing Irene in action, viewers started buzzing with all sorts of speculations.
"Free ride... that might be right? If Irene had mastered this skill a bit earlier, we probably could''ve just walked through the poison gas swamp with the barrier on.
I mean, Roland just moved around freely thanks to his ridiculous stamina, but that''s because he''s Roland."
-This game has four types of jobs: tank, DPS, healer, and ''teacher''
-If you break it down, it''s melee DPS, tank, rogue, archer, mage, priest, teacher, right? lol
-It''s not breaking it down, it''s just that he''s melee DPS, tank, and teacher combined, isn''t it?
-lol For real, is he still the only one in a party with a natural-born 6★? How lucky can you get?
-Too lucky (not encountering the ogre from floors 51 to 55)
Huh? That''s not it. Why did the conversation suddenly turn to me?
Apparently, the flow of the conversation had shifted from the overpowered barrier to my body, which was even tougher than that barrier. Of course, I wasn''t the one being criticized - it was Han Se-ah, so I didn''t really care. It was a bit amusing, but praise for my combat ability directly translated into criticism of Han Se-ah.
After collecting all the mana stones from the prairie, which was even more of a mess than usual due to the orc javelineers'' indiscriminate bomb throwing and Manaashi''s excited rampage, we started walking aimlessly across the prairie again.
"A fake safe zone, huh? That''d be hard to spot from a distance, right? I guess we should check out every safe zone we come across."
"I suppose so. Until the mages from the Magic Tower figure out how to distinguish them, we''ll have to confirm that golden flower in the center of each safe zone."
Up front, Grace and I discussed searching for safe zones.
I''m not sure how far they plan to go with these so-called magical devices, but Han Se-ah''s eyes seemed to see some kind of holographic AR guide showing where to place them. Whether it was a system assist or a function created by the Magic Tower, I couldn''t tell since I was watching through the camera, but I could at least glimpse it in third-person view, so there were no mistakes in the setup.
"Since the safe zone is circular, we''ll place these at the star-shaped points, and put this antenna-like thing in the center where the flower should be. That should do it."
-Shit, she looks like a corrupt businessman starting to develop a green belt
-All those ugly things spread out in that beautiful scenery... How is that a magical device?
-Please stop destroying forests for indiscriminate quest progression, sob sob
-But the magical devices do look kinda high-tech. Feels like excavators are about to show up
-Looks more like something made by construction workers in hard hats than by the Magic Tower lol
The magical devices looked more suited to a concrete jungle than a fantasy world.
From what the viewers were saying, the tripod magical device showing Han Se-ah the holographic AR guide was just a land surveying camera with a large crystal ball instead of a lens, and the long stakes driven into the edges of the safe zone were just stakes with mana stones stuck on top.
As a result, we ended up trampling the beautiful golden meadow while driving in stakes, so it was natural for viewers to laugh and throw comments at Han Se-ah.
From road-paving to environmental destruction, nature will reject you, this is worthy of the road construction committee, your mouth says no but your body follows the Magic Tower... After a parade of all sorts of wisecracks, the magical devices in the safe zone finally started to move with a click-click sound.
"Oh, oh? Lights are coming on, does this mean it''s installed correctly?"
"Sheek- Neither priests nor mages can understand these contraptions. I cannot fathom what these things are for."
Like antennas receiving signals from aliens, the stakes with mana stones started blinking periodically, then emitted strange operating sounds - gyong-gyong-gyong - along with waves of mana.
Everyone here was at least 5★ rank, so they all seemed to notice these waves. Especially Manaashi, coming from the naga tribe more familiar with warriors and shamans than knights and mages, was rolling his eyes as if looking at something incomprehensible.
Well, if we''re just talking about what we can see and feel, ignoring all the magic stuff, it was a confusing mix of flashing lights, rhythmic noises, and bursts of mana waves. It was chaotic enough to be disorienting.
"This is working properly, right, Hanna?"
"Yes! It''s operating exactly as the Magic Tower explained!"
But as the speed of the flashing lights and the gyong-gyong sounds changed to something more like a bomb about to explode, Katie asked anxiously.
As the gyong-gyong sound quickened to the point where it could be summarized as "guk!", even Han Se-ah, who had been speaking confidently, started nervously rolling her eyes when suddenly-
"W-who are you?"
"...Shouldn''t I be the one asking that?"
A person suddenly popped out of the fake safe zone.
...What the hell is going on?
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