ShangriLa Frontier ~ Shitty Games Hunter Challenges Godly Game ~

Orchestra of the Gloomy Melody is basically just a music player.

Orchestra of the Gloomy Melody seems to be closely related to the human race from the time of the Era of the Gods…… No, that’s not it. It is related to humanity, yes. But not the one from the Era of the Gods. The one that actually came before the Era of the Gods.

So based on all that there is only one conclusion that can be drawn in here: Orchestra of the Gloomy Melody is…… a story about human beings before the Era of the Gods itself.

* * *

「……………」

After that I decided to go to the Conquest Doll’s base and then log out for a moment. We have decided together with the Professor that we were going to meet in front of the Orchestra’s boss room at around 3 am or so…… So before that was going to happen, I had the time to actually make all sorts of preparations in advance. But aside from that fact, there was literally nothing for me to do in here beside sitting on my ass and waiting without doing anything productive.

Now then, since the Orchestra battle is going to be a long-term one, then maybe it wouldn’t be that bad of an idea to just crack open that sweet Blood Riot Revolving Lantern just to be on the safe side? …… Or maybe not. I mean, energy drink surely has its upsides, but am I really crazy enough here to make myself an undead for the rest of the day like that? So let’s just take Riot Blood, but not the Revolving Lantern but one of the weaker ones, just to be on the safe side. Maybe let’s leave Revolving Lantern exclusively for Player Versus Player types of battle? That’s actually not that bad of an idea. Hmm…… refreshingly minty flavor, who would have thought? Surely it’s not going to be nearly as powerful as mixing together all the different varieties of Riot Blood, but that’s not the effect that I am going for tonight. Plus, the taste of such a concoction would definitely taste awful. Not to mention that the ingredients would most probably overlap or be at odds with one another, weakening its effects, and that is something I would REALLY like to avoid in here tonight.

「Alright then……

At the current moment I managed to obtain all the information that I wanted from the inside of the Behemoth. The information that can be searched in the tenth layer turned out to be extremely important in unraveling the truth behind the existence of the Orchestra, as a matter of fact. For some reason, EterZero decided to make her very own personal save point in the tenth layer and decided to sleep in there…… I would like to try and register as my friend one of these days, but I honestly don’t think that this would make me even remotely closer to understand what’s going on inside of that head of hers. I even think that this would make things even harder…… EterZero, just what the heck is that player in the first place? For some strange reason the vibes about her seems somewhat familiar to some extent, as if I have met someone like her somewhere before, but I can’t exactly put my finger on where we could have met before and under what convoluted set of circumstance a meeting like that came to pass in the first place. But it surely is a mystery that would be well worth investigating sometimes in the future.

No, it’s not that I really care about something like that right about now. She and I are completely different type of players, representing different approaches to gaming and having completely different priorities. And I don’t even need to mention personalities, because that is pretty much a given thing.

「I still have more than half an hour before the appointed time is here…… So, am I going to be able to do some minor activities in the game before the 3 am comes around? Let’s find out!」

* * *

「Yo, Sigma! Were you finally able to find that what you have been looking for all this time?」

「SINCE I AM HERE AT ALL TIMES, THERE IS NO WAY THAT SHE WOULD BE UNABLE TO FIND THAT. IT IS BASICALLY IMPOSSIBLE AT THIS POINT IN TIME.」

Oh? Even the hologram of the Doctor is here as well? But for some reason he seemed to be even “darker” than before? If such a thing is even possible.

「But anyways, what were you even looking for in the first place? I don’t think you ever shared that with me.」

「Answer: ……… No, no answer. Answer refused.」

「Huh? Say what now?」

「I do believe that that answer to that question is going to become apparent the moment we are going to face against the Orchestra.」

Oh? Now you’ve said it, Sigma! Those exact words! At this specific of a time! Does that mean that you have really come to find what you were looking for?

「As a matter of fact, we are going to be facing Orchestra in a moment. So even if you refuse to tell me here, I am going to know your answer in a matter of hour or so.」

「…………… Hmm, I see. Now I understand.」

Seriously now? Girl, I wish I could be just like you, just running through life like that without even a single care in the entire world. Thinking about it like that, wouldn’t that be pretty nice, huh?

「So? Mind explaining to me why is Emul curling up in the corner like with his ears covered? Did you manage to traumatize him in some way?」

「OH, I CAN EASILY EXPLAIN THAT, NO PROBLEM. IT’S JUST A THOUGHT THAT OCCURRED TO ME RECENTLY, YOU SEE. I THOUGHT THAT IF WE COULD SOMEHOW EVANGELIZE THE GLORY OF STERNBLOOM TO CRATURES OTHER THAN THE HUMAN RACE, THE THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR US TO NOT TRY DOING JUST THAT. SO FOR THE TIME BEING WE HAVE FORCED…… I MEAN, ASKED THAT VORPAL BUNNY OVER THERE TO LISTEN TO THE MEDELAY OF THE SONGS FROM STERNBLOOM’S VERY FIRST ALBUM.」

「A-And as a result of that now I only want to live the rest of my life listening to the quiet whistle of the wind, and nothing else……」

「NO WAY! AND HERE I WAS GOING TO PRESENT YOU WITH A SPECIAL GIFT! JUST FOR YOU! THE VERY FIRST MINI-ALBUM RELEASED BY ONE OF STERNBLOOM’S SUB UNITS, “RIDING THE REFRESHING BREEZE” BY RYORAN NO KAZE!!!」

「Byanyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa–––––––––!!!!!!!!!」

Okay, alright, listen here, you Doctor Otaku. It’s fine if you like something really much, you know? It’s really fine. And it’s really fine if you wish to recommend things that you like to other people. However, there is one particular word that you need to be aware of in here. You know what that word is? Moderation. If you show someone something in moderation, there is a good probability that people are going to take interest in that something and would like to see more of it. Especially if that something has a coo-sounding name that you would like to investigate in greater detail. But for the love of God, just keep that in moderation! One album at a time! Don’t bust out ten or twenty of those and expect that people are basically going to be brainwashed by it in an instant! You are only going to make people to stay away from that thing as much as possible!