As I mentioned in the previous chapter’s preface, I have corrected “Sky City” to “Sky Castle.”
“…*Sigh*. Finally, we’re here.”
Facing the colossal monolith, I let out a sigh. I had arrived at the entrance to Sky City, also known as the sky dungeon.
Naturally, I was alone. There were no companions.
This wasn’t just because I’m a Solo Player. There was another reason: it was impossible to get here without being alone.
The Spectrum Tower, said to have a thousand floors. It was like a Pandora’s Box.
While it’s said the map patterns are fewer than imagined, it boasts a variety of random gimmicks. Missions would appear, yielding gold or silver treasure chests upon completion. At certain milestone floors, you’d need to defeat a set number of weak monsters to spawn a boss guarding the stairs to the next level. There were bonus stairs allowing you to skip several floors, and a variety of unique traps. While these mechanisms, a hodgepodge of different game elements, were somewhat enjoyable, they presented issues…
The treasure chest item tables from the 800th floor onwards inexplicably reverted to the first floor’s. If you were turned into a pig by a trap, you couldn’t pick up keys, meaning an odd number of pig traps could lead to an impassable situation. If a boss spawning floor overlapped with a bonus floor where enemies turned into items, you couldn’t defeat the prerequisite regular enemies, preventing the boss from appearing and blocking progress. Entering a five-floor bonus staircase on floors like 298 or 699 could instead send you back to floors 203 or 604, respectively. If you met the conditions for a gold treasure chest before a silver one, you’d never obtain the contents of the silver chest… In short, it was riddled with bugs.
Of course, meticulously clearing such a dungeon wasn’t feasible. That’s where the “Ring of Heaven” martial art, devised by the Nekoneko players, came in.
The strategy was simple: if climbing through the tower was too bothersome, why not climb from the outside? Essentially, it involved scaling the tower’s exterior wall, reaching the top, and then using an Illusionary Mirage to phase through the wall and enter.
However, while easier than navigating the interior, scaling a thousand floors worth of height (though rumors suggest the exterior doesn’t actually measure that high, their truth is unknown) was still a significant ordeal. Even with a body that didn’t fatigue, it took hours, and my legs trembled when I accidentally glanced down. There was also the risk of warping outside the tower when using Illusionary Mirage on the top floor, potentially leading to a fall with no means of recovery, making it quite perilous.
I had optimistically hoped to jump directly from the tower’s outer wall to Sky City, but unfortunately, Sky City was hidden even higher than the tower’s summit, concealed within the clouds.
There was no need to stubbornly insist on that. I obediently used Illusionary Mirage and entered the tower. Upon touching a mysterious floating sphere on the tower’s top floor, my body was suddenly enveloped in a white, soap-bubble-like membrane. I passed through the wall within this bubble, ascending, and before I knew it, I had reached Sky City.
“Come to think of it, this is…”
I looked around the room again and muttered to myself. Mysterious instruments adorned with indecipherable numbers. Trails of colorful light flowed senselessly across the metallic walls. And the pièce de résistance was the door at the edge of the room, with its futuristic design that could only be an automatic door. It felt less fantasy and more sci-fi.
“A city of the future. No, rather, this is…”
I recalled the overall view of Sky City I had glimpsed through the soap bubble on my way here. Perhaps due to its age, parts were missing, but the general shape was discernible. Considering that, and to put it in simpler terms, this place wasn’t a city, but rather…
“A space battleship… isn’t it?”
It seemed the Nekoneko staff had completely abandoned world-building consistency upon reaching this point. Well, this was an optional dungeon, comparable to the final dungeon in terms of enemy difficulty. A little wildness was understandable.
Upon reflection, the inhabitants of this fantasy world shouldn’t have words like “spaceship” or “space battleship.” In that sense, calling this place Sky City was, in a way, consistent with the world setting. Besides, I tended to be more of a “performance maniac” than a lore buff. I decided to enjoy the gameplay without overthinking it.
When it came to places I hadn’t visited, I tried to avoid information beyond critically game-breaking bugs. Even so, information about commonly visited player areas would naturally reach me, but Sky City, having been reached by few players, didn’t have much available information. Even with everything I knew, this was essentially it:
* There are no game-breaking bugs (like save data corruption or machine malfunctions upon saving).
* Enemies in Sky City are high-level, and just before the deepest parts, there’s a boss so strong it’s described as “the strongest in Nekoneko for close combat.”
* Beyond the boss is a Power Reactor. Activating a switch there allows you to control Sky City’s functions, and even low-level monsters disappear.
* After activating the Power Reactor, an Escape Device becomes usable. Activating its switch allows free movement between the ground and Sky City.
* Magic or items for fall prevention are absolutely essential.
In essence, my impression was that while the enemies here were strong, it was a relatively straightforward dungeon. Once the boss was dealt with and the Power Reactor activated, everything else would fall into place. This was also one of the reasons I hadn’t brought anyone here. While Hisame, who I still suspected was stronger than me, might be manageable, bringing anyone else would likely lead to their pointless demise. In that regard, I was confident I could handle a certain level of crisis alone. However, in the world of Nekoneko, complacency leads to swift death. I wasn’t overly tense, but I certainly wouldn’t let my guard down.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Pumping myself up, I approached the automatic door, remaining vigilant for anything that might happen.
“…Huh?”
The door didn’t open.
After agonizing over it for about fifteen minutes, I finally discovered that shining a light-attribute magic spell on the gray, glass-like panel next to the door activated the switch and opened it. To be fair, the reason it took so long was that the light-attribute magic, Light Bullet, which I had tried first thinking it might work, wasn’t purely light-attribute. I know that sounds nonsensical, but in reality, Light Bullet was a fire-attribute light magic… no, it still sounds nonsensical. Is this game perhaps a Crappy Game?
However, thanks to that, or perhaps because of it, I began to understand the dungeon’s mechanisms. The basic principle seemed to be activating mechanisms by shining light-attribute magic on gray switches to progress. While sometimes it activated automatic doors, more often it produced those soap-bubble-like mobile devices found on the tower’s top floor. Lighting the switch near the sphere with light magic caused it to float, and touching the floating sphere would form a bubble that carried me somewhere. While enveloped in the soap bubble, gravity, walls, and ceilings were irrelevant as I floated gently to my destination. This was incredibly daunting. It wasn’t just that the bubble allowed me to see the outside scenery, making my legs tremble from the sheer height when floating over the city’s exterior; the destinations were usually one-way. If there was another mobile device there, fine. But usually, it was a dead end. Problems were unavoidable in Nekoneko.
Being sent back to a place I had already passed was the least of my worries. The worst was being sent to a complete dead end, a place with no further path, where it was clear the developer had forgotten to implement proper placement. With no other option, I had to risk using the Illusionary Mirage wall-phasing bug to try and emerge somewhere. Fortunately, on that occasion, I safely returned to another passage, but considering I could have been ejected outside the city, I couldn’t afford to use the wall-phasing bug carelessly.
The city boasted a scale worthy of its name, and coupled with its effective warp system and three-dimensional map, navigation was difficult. The攻略 was more challenging than I had imagined.
Adding a unique, unpleasant flavor to this long exploration were the diverse enemy characters. They were robots that completely disregarded the established world view.
One enemy fired an unsettling laser beam that inflicted paralysis, ignoring all resistances. The attack came again the moment the effect wore off, leaving me completely immobilized.
Another enemy fired a mysterious beam not at players, but specifically at weapons and armor. By the time I hastily checked, my equipment durability had decreased by nearly half.
As if to taunt me, after a certain time in combat, one enemy would glow and I’d find myself back at the starting point. Four hours of exploration research were wasted.
One enemy transformed the moment it spotted me. If I attacked and dealt damage during its transformation, it would transform again. If I then landed the finishing blow, it transformed and died. What was the point of that?
Another enemy, the moment combat began, emitted a sound like fingernails scraping a blackboard, directly attacking the player’s psyche, not the character. Was this even a game anymore?
These monsters, deserving of being called masters of harassment, constantly attacked me throughout the long dungeon exploration. Regardless of how much I wanted to avoid combat, the narrow corridors of Sky City made it impossible to flee. I couldn’t afford to leave enemies that reduced equipment durability or forced involuntary teleports unattended. Even with ample HP and MP, my mental fortitude was being relentlessly chipped away.
And as is often the case, mental strain began to affect the physical. After a lengthy soap bubble ride, I let my guard down and was ambushed by a horde of robots. I managed to defeat them all, but then…
“Huh? My HP…”
My perception was that I still had over half my HP remaining, but it had plummeted to a critically low level. It was extremely dangerous to lose track of my condition due to being engrossed in the game. I was aghast at how close to death I had unknowingly become. However, the exploration wasn’t solely distressing. I was, at heart, a Gamer. The sci-fi gimmicks were novel to me, having been immersed in Nekoneko for so long. I could find joy in a simple automatic door, and I spent hours in the monitor room, marveling at the view of the world below. I even found a “Light Sword” and gleefully swung it around. But that smile vanished after experiencing “despair.”
“Are you kidding me! How am I supposed to beat that thing!”
Terrified by the clanking sounds pursuing me from behind, I ran desperately through the corridors. “Invisibility while moving? That’s an absolute cheat!” As I said that, I glanced back again. …It was there! When players were far away, it was semi-transparent and seemed to be perpetually within that “soap bubble.” Its movement speed was slow, but it always took the shortest path, making it impossible to outrun. “Almost there, almost there!” My only hope was the Escape Device. I had managed to bypass the boss of Sky City and activate the Power Device. All that remained was to find the Escape Device… “Is that it!” The door I had targeted, which had remained stubbornly locked until I reached the deepest part, was now open, presumably due to the Power Device’s activation. Beyond it lay a familiar switch and the mobile sphere. It was almost certainly the Escape Device. Letting my guard down, thinking I was safe… “—What!” Suddenly, a robot arm burst through the wall in front of me. “No way…” It was different from the others, a heroic form that looked like it belonged to a team of superheroes on a weekend morning. An anthropomorphic machine, exuding an “ace protagonist” vibe. But to me, at that moment, it was a symbol of terror. “Graaah!” The corridors of Sky City were narrow. Yet, while it hadn’t fully emerged from the wall yet, there was still a gap. “Skill… no, straight through!” I aborted the skill I had instinctively drawn. Relying on a one-in-a-million chance, I dashed past the boss’s side, as a plain human. “—!?” The boss’s sword passed over my head as I reflexively ducked. But I narrowly survived. I’m going to get past! Ahead, the mobile device and its switch appeared. “Hurry!” I fired light magic at the switch and simultaneously reached for the sphere, which had not yet been lit. The moment my hand touched the sphere, the switch lit up, and a soap bubble formed. But by then, it was already approaching me. It raised its sole weapon, a mechanical sword, as if to strike down at any moment… “—Later, handsome. See you around.” But there was no time. My body was already being carried by the soap bubble, hurtling downwards towards the ground at an incredible speed. “Phew, that was close.” Suspended within the soap bubble rapidly descending towards the surface, I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t defeated the boss, but I had achieved the minimum objective. I should be able to visit Sky City anytime now, and I could always get revenge on that guy once I became stronger. “But, come to think of it, on what principle does this shortcut work?” I tilted my head, watching the soap bubble break through the clouds. This mobile device was generally one-way. To return to Sky City, there would need to be a similar device or substitute on the ground. However, besides Sky City and the top floor of the Spectrum Tower, there were no such sci-fi locations… Hmm? As I thought this, something clicked in my mind. It was somewhere I had… “Oh, oh!” My thoughts were abruptly interrupted. The soap bubble was rapidly approaching the ground, gradually decelerating. And I knew that the bubble’s destination wasn’t simply the surface. “Is that…” The soap bubble was heading towards a specific point near the tower. —An ancient ruin, buried in sand. I recalled it; it was near the tower, but a place I had never set foot in. …Come to think of it. I had heard about it long ago. A peculiar ruin near the Spectrum Tower, with no treasure, no movable mechanisms, yet where overwhelmingly strong robots appeared. It was during the chaotic early days of Nekoneko, and I had dismissed it as a leftover map from a cancelled event. But what if… I didn’t have time to ponder. My body plummeted towards the “ruin” at high speed, passing through sand and ceilings, entering the “ruin”… “This interior…!” The familiar atmosphere within the ruin, the strangely metallic design of the walls, the cramped corridors—my suspicion turned into certainty. And as I strained my eyes to gain further confirmation, the moment my feet touched the ground— “That’s it! I knew it—*Gak!”* I was crushed and died. “…And that, is what happened.” I concluded my tale of gaming memories, and Mitsuki responded dismissively, “Ah, yes. The usual, isn’t it?” Was her attitude towards me becoming increasingly casual? “S-so, why did that ‘Gamer?’ Soma-san die so suddenly?” Ena interjected with a mediating tone, and I turned to her before answering. “Well, that’s a story for another time. For now, let’s move.” Saying that, I started walking, towards roughly forty-five degrees from the towering Spectrum Tower. “Eh? Ah, um, the tower? Aren’t we going to climb the tower wall…?” “…Huh?” Ena asked, sounding surprised for some reason, but it was I who was taken aback by the question. “No, what are you talking about? I told you we weren’t going to the tower, didn’t I?” “E-ehhh!? B-but! Eeeeek!?” While I felt it was common sense, she seemed confused by some strange assumption. I explained to Ena as if to gently chide her. “I only walked towards it as a landmark. After all, even climbing the outside would take hours. Besides, I’d have to use the wall-phasing bug to enter the tower in the end. I told you I wouldn’t use bug techniques this time, right?” “Eh, no, eue… Ueeeh…!” Ena’s mouth hung open, speechless. Instead, Mitsuki, showing a hint of fatigue, asked me, “Then, our destination is…?” Her eyes were fixed on the “ruin” ahead. No, on the “structure that looks like a ruin.” So, I nodded. I nodded deeply and declared, “We are heading to Sky City’s other ‘entrance,’ the terminus of the Escape Device, also known as the ‘Gate to Heaven’ or the ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ It’s the ‘ruin’ with the shortcut… no, a part of Sky City that fell.” I spoiled the fact that the tower was unrelated to the main story, so why doesn’t anyone believe me!
