ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

「This…… has turned into a difficult situation (Note: read in Kizuna Ai’s Voice).」

「Uhyah, this is definitely going to get my clothes all dirty.」

Just like the Giant Serpent in front of a suspension bridge leading to Sekandil, the Mud Digger was also occupying a huge open swamp in front of the valley leading to Thirdrema…… Yup.

「Way to go to crap all over AGI-based characters’ cereal……」

In order to fight the boss you would have to enter the swamp and that means your mobility is going to drop significantly, which means that you can’t chase it effectively or dodge efficiently.

Kuh, this is a miss on my end. I should have expected something like that, since the area was a swamp and all that.

「Whatever shall we do, Sanraku-san? This might be a little bit too much for us alone.」

「It might be so….. For the time being, let’s just take a look at the boss up close. Emul…… why the hell are you clinging to my back like that?」

If we had a normal size party this battle could be much easier, since even though our movement speed would be reduced we could also limit the movements of the boss itself. But sadly, that wasn’t an option here.

「Yes, let’s do just that!」

While Emul was constantly sticking to my back we gradually made our way into the swamp. Damn it, it was really cold inside it, especially since my legs were bare. But the fact that I was despising even more was that I was gradually getting used to this feeling.

「Myoh! I can feel it coming, Sanraku-san!」

「Yeah, it sure is……!」

I could feel it in my whole body. This sensation of vibrations travelling through the swamp, signaling that a boss was about to appear. And it sure did, emerging from under the murky water right in the middle of the swamp.

「Shaaaaaaaaa!!!」

「What the hell is this!?」

Was that a lizard? A spider with massive limbs? But why is there a beard growing out of its head……? Anyways, it was looking straight at us with its large and glowing eyes.

「Here it comes!」

「Gyah!」

Sh*t, it is really hard to move in here! No, before that, I must check my opponent! What does it look like and what can it do? Let’s check out the Repel Counter first…… If I manage to trigger the critical effect, it should be blown away as a result of the knockback effect triggering.

If the Mud Digger was able to swim in this swamp even though it was so shallow, then it means that I should be able to do that as well (since this is a game and all, so it technically should be possible). I try to dive into the swamp and I succeed without any problems, but then I was almost instantly blown away by a huge and muscular dorsal fin that came straight at me.

「Gyah! My skin is crawling right now!」

「Now you decided to act like a genuine bunny!?」

Damn it, I should have used avoidance skill from the get-go……! I activate them right now and I was somehow able to avoid the boss ramming me with its body at full speed. It was no exaggeration that it was like a very agile battering ram.

Even though the skills didn’t consume any resources upon casting them, they had this thing that was called the re-cast time, a period of time that has to pass before being able to use a certain skill again. I have used both of my evasion skills. Now I was on my own for about ten whole seconds.

「Come on now, what’s wrong! Aren’t you going to attack me……!?」

I must collect as much information about it as possible. I can see the Mud Digger making a U-turn in the murky water and coming right at me again.

First of all, the overall characteristics of this area seemed to be obstructing agility as much as possible. However, it seems that the physics from the real world were very much intact in here, meaning that if you kept one of your feet outside of the swamp you could still move normally with that leg. This wasn’t going to help your movement speed in the slightest, but it would allow for some quick rotating that was essential for evading.

「It’s coming at us! It’s coming at us! Oh my God, it’s gonna eat us!!!」

「No one’s getting eaten today!」

I use the skill that would temporarily grant me a boost to my Agility and Strength and move out of the way of the charging boss.

Great, now I was truly out of options when it comes to evading its attacks…… I wanted to save the Acceleration for when I would be forced against a wall, but I guess it cannot really be helped. That being said, Mud Digger’s attack intervals were shorter than you would have expected.

「For now we can’t stop moving or else we’re done for….. Emul, didn’t you have some offense magic at your disposal?」

「Hm? Why yes, I do. What about it?」

「Try to cast it the moment the Mud Digger tries to attack us.」

「Roger that!」

Was it cheating that I was going to rely on the strength of the NPC that was far stronger than me? Maybe so, but I was perfectly fine with that. That’s something I decided upon reaching Sekandil, that I would use every tool at my disposal to put as much distance between me and the overcrowded beginner’s area as possible. It may be going via shortcuts, but the other players were saying that overpopulated areas are not something you want to be a part of. That is why if Emul could lend me a hand I was going to use that help to my advantage. Even if it meant making short work of many of the strong enemies that were laying on ahead.

「Mumumu…… Magic Edge!!!」

Emul climbed from my back onto my shoulders and began to chant his magic. At that moment there was a blade of magic shaped like a cresent moon forming right in front of him, and when the Mud Digger approached to attack us for the third time, he shot the magic blade right at it.

I thought that we might have to suffer a direct hit because of that, but just when Emul shot the magic blade at the Mud Digger and it found itself in really close proximity to us…… The re-cast time ended.

「Give him Hell!」

I use the Repel Counter to avoid being hit. The Mud Digger gets blown away a few steps and then it starts to dig in the mud, trying to go under the swamp’s surface. While it was doing that, I also cast Spiral Edge Skill as to dish out some additional damage to it while it was leaving itself wide open.

I know that using attack skills to put some distance between yourself and the enemy may sound like pure heresy to some people and that’s not the way in which said skills should be used, but if there was one thing that Shanfro managed to teach me, it was that thinking outside the box was a skill that was necessary to survive here.

「Right, let’s go! Hold on tight!」

「Right!」

Using the skills and magic outside their intended specification of usage is always a given with any kind of game.

A good example could be: use the attack skills with additional effects to avoid an incoming attack or using healing magic on undead to damage them.