We defeated the first Golden HAGURE NYORAIM with Ringo’s lightning strike and my own magnificent charge (or rather, I missed). Without waiting for the Golden to respawn at its pop point, we decided to move on and search for other Goldens.
This was our strategy, which I had devised beforehand after understanding the mechanics of Monster Pop and the spawn rate during mass outbreaks.
The Monster Pop mechanism in “Nekomeko” is extremely simple. Fields have designated locations called pop points where monsters appear. Each pop point has two settings: “the number of the monster group that appears and its probability” and “the time until respawn.”
For example, if group #1 was Nor, group #2 was Nyoraimbus, and group #11 was a set of Nor and Nyoraimbus, then from that pop point, Nor would appear with a 50% chance, Nyoraimbus with a 30% chance, and both Nor and Nyoraimbus with a 20% chance. And with a “Relife 600 seconds,” it means that 600 seconds after the monsters that spawned from that pop point are defeated, i.e., 10 minutes later, new monsters will appear.
However, during a mass outbreak, most of these settings become meaningless. First, if the mass outbreak flag is active, it doesn’t matter if group #1, #2, or #11 was chosen as the monster to appear; it will be the monster chosen for the mass outbreak. Since Golden HAGURE NYORAIM are currently in mass outbreak, regardless of what the original monsters were, Goldens will inevitably appear from all pop points, or rather, nothing else will.
As a side note, there was an incident in an early Dungeon where a Goblin mass outbreak occurred, resulting in not only the regular monsters but even the boss monster becoming a Goblin. Well, supposedly, boss and event monsters are supposed to be immune to being overwritten during mass outbreaks, but the crucial monsters were not tagged as bosses, and consequently, even the boss monster turned into a Goblin. It was a bug of a level quite common in “Nekomeko.”
Incidentally, although the Dungeon was easily cleared as a result, the boss could never be fought again, and its drops were unobtainable. Furthermore, one of the drops was an event-specific item, making event progression impossible, which was quite disastrous.
But putting aside bug talk, mass outbreaks cause larger changes than just monster types. All pop point settings change to “Relife 300 seconds,” and multiple monsters can spawn from the same pop point. In other words, regardless of whether the previously spawned monsters have been defeated or not, new monsters will always spawn every five minutes.
This might not seem like much, but it’s an incredibly brutal setting. According to “Nekomeko Wiki,” the average number of pop points in outdoor Fields is fifty. This means that fifty new monsters will increase every five minutes.
Of course, it’s not a problem right at the start of the Subjugation Tournament. Defeating nearby monsters is easy, and you might think it’s a breeze. However, with each round, missed kills increase, and the number of combatants decreases due to injuries and MP depletion. It’s not uncommon for a monster subjugation tournament that started with fifty monsters and fifty humans to turn into a human subjugation tournament with two hundred monsters and twenty humans after thirty minutes.
However, the monster spawns themselves stop at the tenth wave, forty-five minutes after the start. So, if all the monsters are annihilated, the tournament ends and an announcement is made without waiting for the two hours until the mass outbreak ends. But this rarely happens unless the Players and participants are at a considerably high level.
I don’t know how this tournament will unfold, but I decided to make my plan based on this information. In summary, there are about fifty pop points in the Field, and ten monsters will spawn from each, resulting in approximately five hundred Golden HAGURE NYORAIM appearing this time.
If we can perfectly defeat 250 of these 500, our first place will be almost guaranteed, but that’s realistically unlikely. If we defeat 80, it will likely be solid, but that also feels too ambitious.
…Therefore, fifty. In my estimation, if we manage to defeat fifty monsters well within the tournament period, we might be able to reach first place.
And if we have to defeat fifty monsters in these two hours, we will be required to operate at a rapid pace of about one monster every two minutes. Waiting for the five-minute respawn will not be enough.
After confirming that Ringo, who had been out of sorts due to level-up effects, had recovered, we started jogging towards another point to search.
“I thought there were enemies spawning around here…”
As I muttered this, Ringo, running beside me, quietly said.
“…There is. A golden one.”
“Huh?”
She said that, but I couldn’t see anything when I looked ahead. However,
“…This way.”
As Ringo, uncharacteristically, led the way, we indeed found another Golden there. I wondered if leveling up even improved eyesight. I thought such a ridiculous thing but, more importantly, there was the Golden right in front of us. Slowing our pace, I whispered,
“Ringo, attack when I give the signal!”
Fleeing monsters like the Golden HAGURE NYORAIM often have “being attacked” and “Player approaching within a certain distance” as their triggers. I have already mastered, instinctively, how close I can get before they flee. I got as close as possible, then Ringo unleashed her lightning strike. I circled around from the flank and, this time, delivered Rokutsuki!
While glaring at the wary Nor, I moved to a sufficient distance and shouted,
“Now!”
At the same time, I circled around with Godspeed Cancel Movement from the side. But,
“Whoa!”
The lightning strike grazed past me, so I couldn’t just rush in heedlessly. I had Ringo test it on a nearby rock after her level-up, and its power had definitely increased. Before her level-up, a stray shot hitting a rock only scratched it, but after leveling up, it gouged the rock significantly. Anything hit by that would not survive.
However, even with such a powerful lightning strike, it seems it still couldn’t break through the Golden’s defense. I had hoped that maybe now, with her increased level, it might work, but it seemed to only inflict 1 damage. Then, a few more attacks that grazed the Golden continued, and the Nor’s movements stopped.
(Now’s my chance!)
Suppressing my fear, I charged towards the Golden!
“…By the way, are you going to ‘go easy’?”
It was Ringo, who spoke to me after the battle, as I slumped my shoulders in disappointment. Well, to conclude, that charging attack did hit, and I finally succeeded in attacking the Golden.
I mean, well, it was on a corpse! And I completely failed to aim for a vital spot!
However, even so, it was undeniably a step forward. With a resolute expression, I shook my head at Ringo’s suggestion.
Of course, that was vertically!
No, just defeating them might be easy, and therefore, for Ringo’s growth and for us to get first place, adjusting our strength so I could properly land Rokutsuki was necessary… I think.
According to “Nekomeko Wiki,” the HP of a Golden HAGURE NYORAIM is fixed at 15. Therefore, three clean hits from the lightning strike, or five to ten accumulated grazes, would be enough to defeat it.
“When you think we’re close to defeating it, could you ease up on your attacks a bit so I can get closer?”
It’s not something I brag about, but if I use my skills at full power, I’m probably faster than a Golden. However, the reason I couldn’t get close earlier was that I was flinching from Ringo’s lightning strike. If she adjusts for that, I should be able to land my attacks sufficiently!
Golden HAGURE NYORAIM, your end will be the next time we meet!!
In my case, when I declare something with such confidence, it’s usually a flag for failure, but this time was different. Instead, from then on, everything progressed frighteningly smoothly.
Perhaps due to the effect of “going easy,” I was able to land my attacks on the next Golden with ease. …Though, it was still on a corpse.
And then, on the next one, I tried challenging myself to hit the Critical Point, a small mole (some say it’s fur) between the eyebrows that all Nor series monsters have.
At first… I failed. To aim for the eyebrows, I needed to approach from the front, and while I was hesitating about where the front was, the corpse disappeared.
However, on the next attempt, my aim was off, and while it narrowly missed the vital spot, it came so close to hitting the Critical Point that my confidence greatly increased.
And on the third one I tried, I finally succeeded in landing Rokutsuki on the center of the Golden’s forehead, the Critical Point, of its corpse.
The next one also hit the dead Golden’s eyebrows! And the next one was also successful! And the one after that, I continued to increase my success rate and perfection.
The Golden hunting continued smoothly after that, and with each round, Ringo’s and my coordination improved. And finally, on the 13th one,
“Rokutsuki!!”
I finally succeeded in hitting a living Nor! It was impossible to accurately aim for the forehead since it was moving, but that Nor, already weakened, died after taking 6 damage from Rokutsuki. Immediately after the Golden dissolved into particles, a current ran through my body.
—Level up!
I felt a surge of vitality from deep within my body, making it impossible to stand still. Wanting to test that power, I knocked down three more consecutive monsters, delivering the final blow myself. Of course, I couldn’t break through the Golden’s defense, and I realized that it was impossible for me to aim for vital spots with the speed of a living Golden, but by defeating all three of them, my body underwent further evolution.
Recalling the appraisal paper and checking it, I saw that my level had suddenly jumped to 82 just by defeating four monsters. As a bonus, I checked Ringo’s level and found it to be 107. Truly, “Nekomeko,” known for its “exquisite game balance in a bad way.” The balance-breaking nature of bonus monsters is incredible.
However, judging by this increase, it seems the level of Golden HAGURE NYORAIM is around 100. I thought it would be a higher-level monster, but even as a bonus monster, it’s about what you’d expect from a monster appearing in Deus Plain, where the average level is 50.
After I personally delivered the final blow to one more monster and confirmed my level had reached 84, I decided to prioritize hunting over leveling up. Leveling up can always be done, but this is the only place to get a large amount of money. I allocated all experience points to Ringo and focused on efficient hunting. As a result, the hunt proceeded more smoothly than ever, and by the time 30 minutes had passed since the tournament began, our success count had already reached 22. Considering our initial fumbling, this is quite an achievement. At this pace, we might even exceed our goal of 50 monsters before the 45-minute mark when monsters stop spawning, let alone the 2-hour mark.
Furthermore, as we were actually doing it, the prospect that we might take first place without having to try *that* hard emerged, which was a positive development. Even with 50 pop points, the Field of Deus Plain is quite vast. It takes a significant amount of time to travel from one adjacent pop point to another. It became clear that covering various points horizontally and vertically to earn a large number of points was not very realistic. If that’s the case, it’s conceivable that we, hunting more efficiently than anyone else, are currently in the lead.
Alternatively, it might have been due to our focus on hunting in the deeper areas, specifically the southern part, that proved successful. We encountered very few other tournament participants, and there were likely many untouched pop points. As time passed, and perhaps due to an increase in missed kills, it became common to find two or more Goldens at the same pop point.
This might be easier than expected. Just as I thought that, the anomaly occurred.
“…That’s strange.”
I’ve walked for about five minutes, but I haven’t seen any Nors at all. I asked Ringo if I might have overlooked something, but she hadn’t seen any either. Considering the situation where Nors were overflowing at pop points, with two or three at each, this was abnormal. Perhaps, unlike the Game, the monster spawning stops at 30 minutes instead of 45? It was as I felt this anxiety that Ringo muttered,
“…There.”
Her voice made me sigh with relief from the bottom of my heart. Even from a distance, I could see a golden Nor with my own eyes.
“That’s the next one. Let’s make sure we get it.”
Saying the obvious, I quickened my pace slightly and approached the Nor. But, as we got close enough to clearly see the Nor’s face,
“Ah, wha…?”
The wind swept across the plain. Something slid from the side and, for an instant, intersected with the Golden. My gaze was drawn to the shadow that passed by at high speed, and I immediately shifted my eyes back to the Golden.
“No way, right?”
The Golden HAGURE NYORAIM that was perfectly fine a moment ago was severed right through its center, splitting into two halves. After a brief moment, the two halves of the HAGURE NYORAIM dissolved into light particles.
“…Ringo?”
At that moment, I felt a light tug on my sleeve and turned around. Standing beside me, Ringo was holding the edge of my sleeve with a somewhat fearful expression. The existence that could cause Ringo, who reacted to almost nothing, to show such anxiety. It wasn’t, of course, the Golden HAGURE NYORAIM that was suddenly cut in half. Instead, it was a Human who, with speed comparable to the wind, dashed towards the Golden and sliced it in half in an instant. The skill of someone who could penetrate the defense of a Golden that Ringo’s level-up lightning strike couldn’t even scratch, and cut a target moving at that speed precisely in half. There aren’t many people in “Nekomeko” who can do that.
“You… are…”
A dry voice escaped my lips. Facing me was a girl, who, despite performing the feat of bisecting a Golden HAGURE NYORAIM, was looking at me with a bored expression.
“You’re slow. To the point of yawning.”
And there’s only one person who can utter such words to a Golden HAGURE NYORAIM, the fastest monster around the Capital City. Standing there was, of course,
“Mitsuki Hisame…”
The one and only, perpetrator of “Baaaka!”
