Defense specialization and assistance.
Maple’s turn alone will come again someday.
Probably after the third layer, at least.
The day after Maple revealed her angelic form and overwhelming power to the guild members.
In the wide hall just inside the guild home, Crom and Izu were speaking.
“Maple really is getting stronger by the day.”
“Yes. Watching her never gets old.”
“Still… that’s the thing, right…?”
“Hm?”
“I’m basically a degraded version of Maple, aren’t I!?”
“……Well, yes.”
Crom’s firepower and defense were both objectively below Maple’s.
The one thing he could claim superiority in was PS, perhaps.
“I must earn my place in this guild…!”
“Yes. I suppose that’s understandable.”
As they spoke, the guild home door opened and Maple entered.
“Speak of the devil.”
“Were you talking about me?”
“Hmm. Just a little.”
I want to acquire a powerful skill like Maple’s.
Crom added that he wished to gain a different skill than Maple’s. Maple responded with a smile, offering encouragement.
Crom asked Maple for tips on acquiring a powerful skill. She replied that most of hers had come by chance during exploration. The advice proved of little use.
Hmm… I can’t help much today… Wait! I’ll lend you Shiroppu! Even a little help might make a difference…
Maple spoke, then manipulated the blue panel, removed the ring, and handed the ring she had retrieved from her inventory to Crom.
No… are you sure? That’s important gear. What if I don’t return it?
Would you really do that?
No. I absolutely wouldn’t.
Crom firmly denied it.
He had no intention of doing such a thing.
Then it’s fine!
Maple spoke with a full smile.
Crom repeated, to Maple, that even among guild members, important things should not be given lightly to others.
Yet, because Maple insisted she wished to assist Crom, he reluctantly accepted the ring and left the guild home to resolve the situation.
Walking through the field, Crom thought of Maple’s earlier words.
“Perhaps I should have Sally give her the same warning later…”
It pleased Crom to be trusted so far, yet he felt the trust might be excessive. He decided to have Sally, Maple’s friend, say the same thing later.
“…I must make sure she doesn’t get caught by a bad player.”
Maple enjoyed the game, but her experience remained shallow.
She had not yet known joy or sorrow.
She had not yet felt the reality of bad players.
It was one of the few things Crom could do that Maple could not—keeping players who would exploit Maple’s shallow experience at a distance.
“I want to let her enjoy the game.”
Crom advanced westward, westward across the field.
“Well, since I’ve borrowed it, I might as well make good use of it. Can’t be rude to Maple-chan.”
Crom called forth Shiroppu, and they walked together without enlarging.
He felt no need to grow large, unlike Maple, who could not fly.
“Huh… another monster.”
Crom drew his short blade and braced his large shield.
Three boar-shaped monsters emerged.
Crom had only one shield.
Naturally, if attacked simultaneously, he would take the brunt of the blows.
“Gah… Maple-chan would take no damage at all, wouldn’t she!”
She cuts through the monster charging at her, steps back to evade.
Red effects scatter through the air.
Pursued by a boar, she deflects it with her great shield.
"Thrust!"
Crom activates his skill, driving a sharp thrust forward.
The dagger struck the monster, deflected by the large shield, and drained its final health.
Meanwhile, Crom’s health bar regains strength slowly.
Crom, though lacking in offensive prowess, securing ninth place in the first event was no accident.
Crom possessed one skill that no ordinary player held.
[Battle Healing]
During combat, HP recovers by 1% every ten seconds.
With this skill and high defense, Crom fought tenaciously and secured ninth place.
Maple appears weak when measured against herself, but against the average player, Crom is also a formidable one.
The top ten players in the first event all possess some form of strong skill.
Maple’s skill stood out so markedly among them that she became immediately noticeable.
Crom had Shiroppu attack as well, sharing the experience points, then moved westward again, westward once more.
Crom reached the western wasteland.
“This area hasn’t been explored yet. Let’s proceed from here.”
As Crom continued exploring the wasteland, he found an old, small tomb.
When something unusual appears, every player will examine it.
Crom was no exception.
Approaching the tomb, he failed to react in time when the ground suddenly vanished beneath him, and fell into the underground.
Crom rose up underground.
Ahead, a tunnel stretched into the depths.
“H…? Some hidden dungeon?”
Crom glanced around. Shiroppu stayed close beside him.
“Really… is something attached to Maple?”
Crom felt unease. Strange things happened whenever Maple was near.
In truth, it was not Maple’s mysterious influence that brought them here. It was Crom’s own actions.
Sally, Maple, Kasumi, Kanade, and Izu—all possessed something unique.
Crom had something too.
A staggering number of deaths.
He had chosen the great shield, scorned as inadequate. He died again and again, overwhelmed by monsters he could not kill with his weak attacks.
He learned to wield the shield slowly.
The longer it took, the more deaths accumulated.
Still, Crom trained.
He made up for lack of talent with time and effort.
A thing偶然 found while【Battle Healing】continued to die.
Every skill, every technique, was learned alongside death.
The name of this dungeon is [Grave of the Dead].
Maple cannot enter this dungeon. Sally cannot enter this dungeon.
Only a player who has endured more than a thousand deaths and revivals—like Crom—holds the资格 to enter this dungeon.
Crom is truly a guardian.
Expression corrected.