Chapter 956 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 515: Invitation From the Underworld Part 1

I decided to seal the helmet away and use it solely for ornamental purposes because it seems scary that the injection needle is placed in such a location that it is going to be stabbed into the nape of your neck upon wearing it. I also feel like Riot Blood will be injected into your system at the moment of wearing it. So yeah.

I like the design of this thing. I really do. It’s simple but effective, but the process leading up to the ownership of this thing reeks of a bad horror flick…… I later even e–mailed Katsu and asked him if he knew anything about this whole Bishamonten, the head of sales, but that did not get me any results that I was hoping to achieve.

After that horror-like experience I happened to wake up well-rested and refreshed, all because the physical and mental exhaustion caused me to sleep like a log. As soon as I got home the thread of tension must have finally broken and I was back to my normal and usual self. Also, once the caffeine that extended my vitality throughout the night coming from the Energy Kaiser finally dissipated, and it was just as if my power source was cut off……

「Huh? There seems to be some kind of weird outbreak currently going on in the Old World? Isn’t that kind of bad?」

「So, you really did not know? How unusual……」

「Ah, y-yeah, you know, Lately I was kind of busy with other stuff, so I had no time to actually keep up with the latest rumors and news.」

It just so happened that once Saiga-san started to fill me in on the latest developments inside of the world of ShangriLa Frontier, they happened to be spooky and disturbing enough to cause the palms of my hands to sweat.

Apparently there were strange “Blue Horses” that have been sighted to appear near Thirdrema, and there were also “Green Herds” sighted in the general area of the Mythical Forest…… It was also widely believed that the cause of this new and strange infestation originated all the way from the New Continent, and that it just so happened to occur around the same time that Siegwurm, the Heavenly Emperor, was defeated. However, it seems that the transition to the next stage of the World Quest, which started with the defeat of Siegwrum, seemed to have caused a fair share of trouble not only across the New World, but in the Old World as well.

「Other than that, I also heard that the lord of Thirdrema is having some sort of dispute with the royal palace……」

「So, I guess that the human relationships around the world are also starting to advance, huh……?」

Maybe it is something that is worth checking out? But umm, well, the latest episode of “Channel Eight” is still causing quite a bit of a stir. I mean, yeah, but still…… So what? This is……

「Raid monsters start to appear near Thirdrema. The royal palace refuses to lend any support to either investigate or take care of that issue. And also, it seems that the new king demands the lord of Thirdrema to hand him over his daughter’s hand in marriage……」

Yeah, I mean, that’s some seriously fucked up sense of timing and priorities. One of the biggest cities in the Old World is currently facing an unprecedented crisis, and the only thing that the current ruler thinks about is “Hey Pops! Could you give me your daughter? I really want her to be my wife!”. Oi, oi! When it comes to human relationships, it is really one heck of a nasty bog to maneuver through, you know! And even though that water may look like honey and temp you with its sweetness, once you decide to drink it, you might be in for one heck of a nasty surprise!

「It seems that the lower your level, the more advantageous it is to fight those enemies. Or so I heard……」

「So, does that mean that those things are like the raid bosses for the beginner players? Is that why they have started to appear in places they did?」

I wonder if the true reason for the appearance of those monsters may really be……? There is a section of this game that focuses mainly on adjusting the balance of the gameplay based on the premise of the current events around the world, so we also cannot entirely rule out the possibility that those raid monsters happened to appear in those places completely at random, without any deeper meaning attached to that.

Since ShangriLa Frontier is an extremely popular game with a large and diverse player base, there is actually no way to confirm or deny the credibility of some rumors unless a vast number of players testify in one way or another. In particular, that goes especially true when it comes to the information on both “Black” and “White”.

So far, the only raid monsters that I am aware of are the “Red” and “Blue” over at the New Continent’s side of the map. And now two raid monsters appear around the Old World as well. Now that I think about it, I have to wonder…… Was that overly muscular Cyclops that emerged from within the Great Red Devourer at that time was also a raid monster from somewhere around the New Continent? Interesting, I will have to investigate that matter at my own discretion sometimes later……

「About those Blue Horses? I don’t think it would be wise for us to get involved with them for now.」

「Yes, I think so, too…… And it seems that they do not possess individual HP bars, but that they have one huge HP bar as a collective.」

Yeah, that would have been really tough. Supposedly, their original and individual HP values were not all that great, so there would be no trouble with that setting. But if they have their HP as a collective, then who knows if they do not possess some other hidden traits or mechanics that might make the battle even harder than it might initially be? I feel like in this setting the only possible outcome for us would be certain death……

「Have you heard any rumors about the Black Swords? How are they doing these days?」

「My Sister, she’s…… For now the Black Swords seem to have returned to the Old World in hopes of finding, challenging, and defeating Nightprowler Luukan. However, there is this one rumor that says that they have also went to the mythical forest in order to challenge the raid monster that appeared there……」

Ahh, the mythical forest, huh? It should be that area where you can get your hands on all those rare items, right? And if the raid monster is left to its own devices there, there is a possibility that the whole terrain might get contaminated or even destroyed, so there is little to no wonder that one of the top Guilds of this game is on their way to prevent that from happening.