Chapter 1420 The Setting Sun Part 4 Part 2

So following that logic, their total number and “weight” could be roughly the same as the Goldunine herself.

「…………]

The problem here is……… The Goldunine who has a contract with Shuu—san Should I just keep calling her “Lady” for the time being?). She has a snake companion that has two heads and is the size of a medium-sized truck. And for that thing to be able to get the hell out of here, there is only one possible way…… It’s to simply try and somehow repel Bossdunine. And sure there is no way that Shuu-san is not aware of that fact?

Even in the real world, in order to successfully hit on a woman you have to approach her with the utmost confidence. You have to abandon any notion that you might fail, otherwise you are going to be locked on the course towards failure for sure. And if we apply that logic to fighting monsters, it basically means that you have to be ready to give it your very best without a moment of doubt and hesitation. However, the only saving grace here is that Bossdunine does not show any signs of evolving into a giant Lamia-like creature so far. If that was to happen, then we would have been screwed.

Just for how much longer do you intend to stay there and be paralyzed with fear, huh!? August! If we lose here, the two of those will be the next things that this bitch is going to snack upon…… !!]

「Huh!?]

「T-That’s right! How could I possibly forget……!]

I also have to think of a way to beat the dragon-snake hanging around the edge of this circular field, and now that I think about it, it must have been there all this time since we have gotten here and we just didn’t sense it……!

This battle is growing to be so hard and disadvantageous to us that it might actually become quite fun……!!!

* * *

Do you happen to know what the surefire method of winning every single time is? No, that’s not quite right. It needs to be rephrased better here. Do you happen to know a surefire way not to always win, but to actually never suffer defeat?

As for that particular woman, she knew that surefire method. And that is why she was able to be constantly winning. Or rather, she was able to not lose all this time.

「…… Oh shit, this doesn’t look all that great. Maybe we should get the hell away from here while we still have the chance. What do you think?]

「No, there’s no need for that. It’s alright, Isuna-chan. There is no need for us to get away from this place any more than this. So for the time being just stay quiet and observe the situation developing…… alright?]

「Geh, as usual. I guess that you can remain calm no matter the kind of situation you are currently in, huh?]

Defeat is the farthest state you can possibly imagine from victory. As for what the “defeat” really is…… “Defeat” is the stigma that the victor is branded with the moment someone else from the rock bottom manages to undermine their position, sending them plummeting from the absolute top the very rock bottom in an instant, tearing the victor from the warm comfort of success and sending both their body and mind into the danger zone…… Yes, that is the true nature of “defeat”.

And if it is really just like that, then the solution to this problem is extremely simple: you just have to stay away from danger as much as possible. As long as you can keep out from any form and source of danger and you manage to retain the state of absolute and unwavering stability…… That is the moment when defeat is never going to approach you and cause harm to you.

Being able to realize this wonderful truth about the world as early as her Elementary School days, she has decided to stick to it no matter what, both when it comes to her real world everyday life, and especially when it comes to various video games she used to play.

She would then do her absolute best to avoid any sorts of risks to the limits of her abilities. She would strive towards maintaining her advantages whenever it was possible to do so and she would only take certain risks when she knew that it would end up in her scoring a victory for herself or getting her hands on what she wanted.

Other people and Players would often ridicule her and call her a vulture. But she would pay those rude remarks no mind at all, deep down at the bottom of her heart knowing that there was some semblance of truth to that nickname. However……

─── A vulture with its belly being nice and full is naturally way better than a proud lion at the verge of starving to death, wouldn’t you agree?

「Umm, can I say something here? If we were to actually combine the power of Isuna—chan and myself here, even a snake-like monster like that should be unable to detect our presence until the very last moment. At least I think it should be possible. Don’t you think so, too? Because you see? That was pretty much the case up until now. So it should continue to work.]

「………]

「The moment you die in this game, the only real detriment is that you just drop the weapon that you were holding onto at the time, right? And if that’s the case here……]

Being chased into the corner and barely managing to balance on the line between the life and death, she has made her decision. And just like that, she chose to stab herself with her own weapon.

In that exact moment, in this small corner of the special circular battlefield created by the huge body of one of the dragon-snakes, one of the most sinful and karmic Players of the entire player base, the Player known simply as Hiiragi, looked towards a half-naked Player who was running around the battlefield with threads of black thunder crawling all over his body. But even so, his movements were showing that he was calm and composed, retaining the peace of his mind even in this extreme of a situation. A feat that was already surprising in its own right.