Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 2

by Shinobu Yuuki

  But I hadn't just been twiddling my thumbs. I'd been doing as much as I could to bog down Theodoran. Fez and the hunters were all the manpower I could spare, but they'd all followed my orders with such zeal that I was feeling bad for overworking them.

  I hadn't taken any drastic measures just yet. A few stalls and shops back in the city which were managed by Theodoran had suspiciously been struck with accidents. For example, unregistered carts filled with soil would mysteriously crash into them in the middle of the night. And, strangely, it seemed a whole lot of delicious horse feed had been left in the stables for Theodoran's pack horses, and now they were suffering from diarrhea. In another nearby city, where Theodoran's company had its headquarters, there had been a string of small fires. Very small ones, I promise.

  No, no, I wasn't burning down a city. I just figured nobody would care about a few unpopulated warehouses except their owner. But even so, when he'd received his orders, Fez had come bawling to me, begging me not to make him burn anything down. So I'd resorted instead to just handing him a pot, a brazier, and a funny little monster called a wheat fish. The fish had a fat tail, reminiscent of a mouse, which it used to dash around on dry land, and it was famed for sneaking into silos to steal grain. Thing was, even if you managed to catch one, it was so greasy and disgusting that it was borderline inedible. Most people who went looking for them did it to wring them out and harvest the oil, rather than to eat them and destroy their stomachs. Seriously, they were something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. But as reviled as they were, I'd found they made a whole lot of smoke when cooked, enough to make it look like you'd set a building on fire.

  I'd clearly gone soft. Back in my days playing Imperialization, we'd razed that hotel gang's city to the ground. Well. I guess the situation wasn't quite the same here, given there were actual lives at stake.

  "He's hiding out in a huge hunter caravan. I think they've got upwards of a hundred people."

  A hundred of them? It sounded like a tiny force compared to war in my own world, but when I considered it was just me, Mary, and the labyrinth against all of them, it felt overwhelming.

  "Wait. A hundred hunters. How many...?"

  A chill ran down my spine.

  "Fez, how many of Theodoran's hunters are human?"

  "Can't say for sure, but probably eight outta every ten?"

  Theodoran couldn't have known anything about Mary's condition; Mary and I were keeping that secret to ourselves. There must have just been more human hunters looking for work than I'd thought.

  "How long do we have?"

  "They'll be here in three days, early in the day."

  I couldn't suppress a flash of admiration for Theodoran. I'd had Fez tracking his moves this whole time, but he'd given us the slip until the last minute. He'd really stolen a march on us, and we were going to have to rush our preparations.

  "Here I'd been thinking of shutting down the place in a hurry, even if it damaged my reputation a bit."

  I looked over my records and took a few notes. We'd had a decline in challengers sometime after the two-month mark. Most of the hunters around these parts either had already made their two attempts or had found long-term contracts. We were ten people short of meeting our goal of expelled intruders. We could try to cheat. I could ask Donnel and Carla to make their forces challenge it, for instance. I didn't really mind using underhanded tactics against Theodoran, given how he was approaching things, but I didn't think it was a good idea to try the same with my labyrinth goals.

  "Maybe I should get Suzu's take."

  I rang up Suzu and told her about my woes.

  "Wow, you're pretty screwed. For what it's worth, I've never heard about any labyrinth managers trying to scam the performance review like that, so I'd follow your instincts and do it right."

  On the video chat, Suzu was wearing pink pajamas and periodically rubbing her eyes. Had I woken her up? And was it really okay to wear clothes like that to a meeting? I figured she'd give me hell if I pointed that out, so I decided not to say anything.

  "Huh, really? So you've never heard of labyrinth managers gaming the system?"

  "The only thing I've ever heard was the embezzlement story you told me a few months ago."

  That at least clarified one thing for me. My labyrinth had already been victimized by one corruption scheme, so I'd wanted to ensure that was an outlier in this world, rather than the norm.

  So I couldn't take the easy way out. All right, what other options did I have?

  "I suppose we'll just have to roll out the red carpet for our guests. Fez, can you go talk to Mayor Hopper? I'm going to need as many workers as the village can spare for the next two days. And on your way, tell the receptionist back in Milt that the labyrinth is temporarily closed for renovation."

  "Sure thing, but what are you gonna do? You've only got two days!"

  Like all games, the game of life was at its best when it threw the really hard content at you. I tried to keep my excitement in check as I thought about what was coming, and I gave Fez a confident smile.

  "We're gonna overhaul this place in record time."

  Fez looked at me in horror. Oops, did I put on my evil grin again?

  ◇

  I swung my pickaxe to the ring of stone splitting. My only breaks came in ten-second spurts, when the pickaxe broke apart in my hands and I had to summon a new one with the . I checked my status screen periodically, and every time I saw my stamina drop below two digits, I chugged a magic potion and went back to work.

  "This passageway is supposed to open up to the right. Stop digging to the left!"

  "Aye aye, ma'am! My bad, ma'am!"

  "Aye, ma'am! Watch the rear! Not enough room in the back, ma'am---this is as far as we can go!"

  "Keep that rope taut! Don't drop the load!"

  The labyrinth's passageways blazed with light from the hundreds of torches and lamps we'd gathered. Workers dug out soil and rock cubes and loaded them into baskets, where they were lifted up and out of the labyrinth, one after another. We didn't have enough hands, so we'd asked the ladies of the village to take over management of the crew, issuing orders and directing the flow of materials. Their level of organization was a lot higher than the workers', thanks to all that time spent managing meals for dozens of hungry laborers. I watched my stamina plummet again and again, but my fighting spirit burned brighter than ever. Man, I wished I could see all the progress from a top-down view. I thought back to the discussions in the village when I'd come begging for help.

  "New construction, and you need it done quick? What are you up to, boy?"

  I'd started with Barry.

  "I want to bring back two of the traps we scrapped from the initial design: the drain floor and the killer pitfall."

  The first was a barely noticeable trap, one that constantly sapped the stamina from intruders. It was a small thing, but quite effective over the long haul. We'd initially forgone it because it wore out the maintenance workers as well, and because it was tricky to set up. The second was a ruthless trap which put the hunters' lives at risk, so I'd decided against using it out of concern for their wellbeing.

  "Oh yeah? How long do you have?"

  "We only have until dawn three days from today, and we'll need to rearrange as much of the labyrinth as we can by then. Feel free to use every drop of coagulant we still have left."

  "Oof, talk about tight deadlines. Best get started right away."

  "Fez told me everything. How many laborers do we need?"

  Next, I'd gone to the mayor's house to secure workers.

  "Every Daemon the village can spare. I know I'm asking for a lot here."

  "So many? We'll have to arrange to care for the children, at least. This will cost a lot more than last time."

  "...Can I ask how much?"

  The mayor thought it over, calculated the undiscounted price, and gave me his fair assessment. Well, that blew up my budget.

  "I get what the mayor's sayi
ng, but this is crazy. Working this fast, we're definitely going to see some injuries. I hope you're prepared to provide treatment for everyone!"

  The mayor put out a summons, and the villagers gathered to discuss terms. More and more people congregated, until it seemed like the entire village was there. For whatever reason, Deneb ended up their representative.

  "Aoiiii, what's got you all in a hurry? This is gonna cost you a fortune! I don't see how you stand to make any money if you go rushing around like this."

  I looked to Ann and Mary, and I had my answer. I mentally braced myself for the teasing.

  "I have to do this because my family's in danger."

  "So there you go, everyone! He's doing it for his family."

  "Family? Makes sense."

  "Yep, no reason to try to talk him out of it."

  "Oi, Chief, let's get rolling. Where do we start?"

  "Jenny, round up all the women just like before. We don't have a second to spare."

  A tear sprang to my eye. I wanted to thank them all from the bottom of my heart for their support, but honestly, I was too damn embarrassed. Best to just pretend I'd never delivered that cheesy line.

  "Okay, Aoi, what do ya need me to do?"

  "What, you're gonna help?"

  When Fez came to me offering his services, I was so shocked I gave him a rather rude response. I'd hired Donnel and Carla to fight in the first place, so I was planning on asking them to do that once again, but when it came to Fez, I honestly hadn't even thought about how I could put him to use. I supposed I could forgive myself this one. When you're orchestrating this many people, it's only natural to forget someone.

  "Can you go buy some rope from the village? Don't skimp---it'll need to be strong enough to support people's weight. Oh, and how about you put some of those potions at your stall on sale at a cheap price? I'm sure they'll sell like corncakes."

  "Sure, but who's gonna take the hit for my loss?"

  "I was thinking this could be your contribution to the cause."

  After a long pause, he answered in a chipper tone of voice.

  "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna fly with the missus. She'd probably rip my tail off and beat me to death with it if I cut into the store's profits like that."

  Apparently he'd been balancing the value of our friendship against the risk to his own life and limb.

  "Aoi, we're done with this side of the tunnel, just need to get the blocks out. The chief said to stick to the plan!"

  "Got it!"

  Once I secured the blocks to a rope, Fez, who'd put on a headband and joined the workforce, started lifting them up. I sprinted down the tunnel to my next digging spot. I worked away, carving into the solid bedrock below the first floor of the labyrinth, turning it all into stone blocks. As we progressed down the line, the labyrinth slowly changed shape under the influence of my . The reinforcing wood holding it up began to bow in places, under the weight of many dug-up blocks we'd glued together with coagulant. The whole thing looked like it was made of pixel art. By this point, we were clearly skimping on the aesthetics a bit.

  ◇

  Mary helped around the workshop, stirring pots, bringing firewood from storage, just doing whatever she could. But the entire time, she was in agony. At the root of her suffering was a letter handed to her by a Daemon hunter early that morning.

  "Withdraw your aid. Betray them, if need be. If we accomplish our goal, I will pay the ransom of any humans who support my cause."

  The letter bore Theodoran's signature and seal. The alluring offer tugged at her, not for her own freedom, but rather for the sake of the many ransomed humans. As a knight, sworn to protect mankind, she should have obeyed the commands in the letter. But Mary couldn't bring herself to do it. It tortured her in a way she hadn't experienced in months.

  "Maryyyy, can you go get us some firewood? We're going to be out soon!"

  "Absolutely, I'll go and fetch it immediately!"

  She refused to think of it and threw herself into the work. She'd worry about the letter when the time came.

  ◇

  "I don't hear any screams. They must still be far away."

  I put my hand to the handle of the cursed sword at my waist and strained my ears, listening for the sound of our intruders from the guardian's room.

  "No footsteps either."

  Mary murmured beside me. Just how far away could she hear footsteps?!

  We'd spent every minute remodeling for the two days we had, and we'd finished this morning---just in time. Aside from a few personnel taking shifts in the workshop just in case, all the exhausted villagers had returned home. No doubt they were fast asleep, getting ready to go to work again come tonight. I'd gotten a report from reception that a group of hunters had registered to challenge the labyrinth today. All told, there were 63 humans and 21 Daemons, and in the middle of the list was Theodoran.

  When summer had started, so long ago, I'd bought a brand new suit, but after the repeated washings it was looking a bit worse for wear. I had no armor to speak of, but my vest and leather pouch were packed full of potions. A number of people had recommended that I wear some leather armor beneath my suit, but I'd given up on the idea fairly quickly. Sacrificing mobility could be fatal.

  I'd calmed down a lot when Fez informed me that Theodoran's hunters were more the mercenary caravan guard type, rather than the type that hunted monsters for a living. In game terms, rather than a sudden difficulty spike, this looked more like a bug, or a major balance issue. A bunch of caravan guards sounded like easy mode. On my left hand, I wore a black glove I'd recently acquired off Tundra---the lone purchase I'd allowed myself for this encounter. I hadn't exactly been able to afford splurging on it.

  Magic Hands (three-meter radius) == 4.2 million DL

  Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #89

  Rating: ★★★☆☆

  Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #315

  - A retro magic glove, the real deal, for all you folks nostalgic for the days of yore.

  Nowadays, you can find 2x or even 3x boosting gloves out there, but back in the day, this was the only one on the market. They were a mainstay of labyrinth warehouses. Back when this fellow started selling them, people thought they were pretty cool cause you could wash your hands without ruining them (you just needed two of them). You could argue that's what justifies the prices.

  (Edit: Changed my review to reflect how it compares to the newer competing products.)

  Rating: ★★★★☆

  Reviewer: Employee, Labyrinth #172

  - Others have a wider range of effect, but this one's my favorite.

  I inherited these way back when. I'm kinda jealous of the way other ones let people lift more and stuff, but you know, I just don't feel right when I go out fishing or gathering seaweed if I'm not wearing these.

  It was a magic glove that let you grab distant objects. Ann and I used them to lift blocks after digging them, but you could also hold people in place with them. This would've been far more useful against single hunters than against this mob, obviously. I hadn't thought of it myself; the idea had come up when I'd called Suzu last night to try and relax. Suzu didn't seem to spend much time worrying about combat. Her labyrinth didn't really require strength of arms to operate, so she was mostly concerned with items that were useful day-to-day, and with identifying new commodities.

  "It's been two hours since we heard the first scream. If they were going to make it this far, they'd be here by now."

  We'd set the tripwires and piled anchor traps so they wouldn't be triggered by a small number of intruders. After all, a giant pitfall in the middle of a passageway could very well kill people. I'd realized that we didn't want to take that kind of risk with our normal customers. The pit trap was three meters deep, as wide as the passage itself, and three meters long to boot. The walls were as near to vertical as we could make them, so you'd need special equipment to climb out. Without stakes or a rope you couldn't get people out of it, and
that was not to mention the fact that anybody who fell in would likely be incapacitated by their injuries. The trap was bound to take out a few adventurers. I'd seen my share of nasty pitfalls in games, and I was grateful to a certain tabletop GM who'd taught me how lethal they could be, despite their cartoonish reputation. The way Barry had grimaced when I'd told him I wanted one, it was clear he too was aware of the injury they could cause.

  "Wonder if Theodoran's having fun, now that the kiddie gloves are off. He has no idea who he's up against."