IGTL Chapter 74

Chapter 74 – Cursed Equipment: “Reverse Scale of the Naming God” ③

Once I moved outside the range of “Monster Respawn,” the monsters rushed toward “AAAA.”

“Nooooooo!?”

Seeing the swarm of Antlions charging at him, “AAAA” screamed.

“Hey, hey. What’s wrong? This is where you’re supposed to endure it while saying something like, ‘Fwahahaha! Attacks like that do not work on me! I am invincible!’ right?”

When I pointed that out using the very words “AAAA” had said just moments ago, “AAAA” shouted back in tears.

“Th-This is not the time to be saying that!”

Of all things, “AAAA” tried to escape outside the range of “Monster Respawn.”

I aimed the Mob-Fenrir Bazooka at “AAAA” and fired a Gleipnir round.

“Aaaaaah!? What are you doing, Kakeruuuu!?”

As “AAAA” was caught by the Gleipnir round and rendered completely unable to move, I followed up.

“I mean, don’t run. Why do you think I went out of my way to power-level you? It was to test the power of the Naming God series, obviously!”

“N-No, I did not know that! What kind of insane thing are you thinking!? S-Somebody help me! There is a lunatic here!”

“Who are you calling a lunatic, punk!?”

Was he trying to pick a fight with me?

Because I would happily take him up on it.

Do not underestimate level 200.

My bag had the mighty Elementals on my side, you know?

The mighty Elementals were the strongest, all right!?

“…More importantly, are you sure you can afford this? Like I said earlier, your level is one hundred fifty-four. The Naming God series, which is your lifeline, has a two-minute-and-thirty-four-second cooldown every twenty-six minutes and thirty seconds. If you do not get that Gleipnir round off before then, you’ll die, you know?”

“Do not give me that ‘you’ll die, you know’ crap! You are the one who fired that Gleipnir round, Kakeru!? Why are you talking like this happened because of some unavoidable accident!? Actually, heeeeeelp!”

“AAAA” screamed in the face of the approaching monsters.

However, it was fine. I wanted him to relax.

The moment countless Antlions unleashed tentacle attacks against “AAAA,” his body was covered in a thin film of light.

The instant the Antlions’ tentacles reached “AAAA,” their attacks were reflected, and the Antlions’ tentacles burst apart.

“Huh?”

“AAAA” looked dumbfounded.

“That’s amazing…”

As expected of cursed equipment the game development team had created as a joke.

“Wrath of the Naming God” nullified physical and magical attacks, while “Reverse Scale of the Naming God” reflected them.

Its performance was utterly ridiculous and blatantly unfair.

Moreover, because it had a drain effect, the drawbacks of “Wrath of the Naming God,” namely “healing at churches is nullified” and “even if recovery potions are used, they only recover a small amount,” had been completely reduced to empty formalities.

Who was it?

Who had come up with equipment this stupidly overpowered…?

Was this not absurd balance-breaker equipment?

To defeat “AAAA” while he was equipped with the Naming God series, there was no method other than waiting for his cooldown.

What the hell? Was this guy the strongest now?

Who was it?

Who had forcibly equipped broken-performance gear on a guy like him…?

At this point, could “AAAA” clear an advanced dungeon on his own?

…That was kind of irritating in its own way.

Just imagining “AAAA” wearing a smug face made me want to puke.

“All right. Let’s go home…”

There were still weapons and armor from the Naming God series sleeping in my Item Storage, but I decided not to hand them over to “AAAA.”

If I did, he might become seriously impossible to control, and the current “AAAA” becoming stronger than me was somehow aggravating.

“Well then, good luck. I’m going home.”

“Huh!? Kakeru!?”

Since he had reflected the Antlions’ attacks, “AAAA” had slipped free from the Gleipnir round. There should not have been any problem.

When I tried to head toward Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil,” “AAAA” chased after me.

“K-Kakeruuuu! Wait, hold ooooon!”

“Gah! Stay away! Do not come near me! Go over there!”

“D-Do not say thaaaaat! For some reason, I cannot equip any weapons anymore, and I have no way to defeat monsters!”

“Huh? Really?”

Every time “AAAA” tried to grab the sword he took out of his Item Storage, it slipped right out of his hand.

I had not known “Reverse Scale of the Naming God” had such a blind spot.

No helping it. I was the one who had made “AAAA” equip the cursed equipment, so I supposed I would take responsibility…

I took out a new piece of cursed equipment from my Item Storage and handed it to “AAAA.” When I did, “AAAA” looked stunned.

“Um, what is this ringed staff…?”

“Hmm? This is ‘Lament of the Naming God.’ You know it too, right? It is collaboration equipment the game development team made as a joke back in the day. Come on, just equip it.”

“Y-Yeah…”

When “AAAA” equipped the ringed staff, the black miasma-like substance floating around it was sucked into “AAAA’s” body.

“…So? Do you think you can defeat monsters with that?”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll try! ‘Lament of the Naming God’!”

“AAAA” pointed the ringed staff at the monsters.

Then, when he muttered the name of the staff, black lightning erupted from it.

This looked kind of dangerous.

After judging that, I put some distance between myself and “AAAA.”

In the next instant, the black lightning that had erupted from the staff rained down on “AAAA” and the Antlions generated by “Monster Respawn.”

““G-Grarararara!?””

“A-Ababababa!?”

The Antlions and “AAAA” were electrocuted by the black lightning.

Faced with its power, sweat ran down my forehead.

W-What terrifying equipment…

The weapon I had handed to “AAAA,” “Lament of the Naming God,” was a self-destruct weapon that consumed ten percent of one’s HP to unleash lightning with one hundred times that power.

If used ten times in a row without healing, the user could receive a guaranteed one-way ticket to the afterlife. It was one of the weapons in the Naming God series.

Even I had to admit I had handed him a terrifying weapon.

“A-Are you all right, ‘AAAA’!?”

Just like the Antlions that had been struck down by the lightning of “Lament of the Naming God” and now lay scattered around as corpses, “AAAA” had also been electrocuted and was lying on the ground.

He looked like he had been turned into a sparking mess, but it should have only taken ten percent of his HP. On top of that, the drain effect should have absorbed the Antlions’ HP, so I thought he was probably fine, but I still felt like I had done something kind of bad.

For me, this was rare. I was actually reflecting on my actions.

After all, the equipment I had handed “AAAA” was cursed equipment.

Because it was cursed, it could not be removed.

“Ugh… What in the world…?”

Good. It seemed he had woken up.

I was truly glad he had not died of shock.

“A-Are you all right, ‘AAAA’?”

“H-Huh? Oh, Kakeru. What exactly happened to me…?”

Seeing the Antlions burned black in front of him, “AAAA” looked dumbfounded.

Now was my chance.

I would muddle everything, then assert the legitimacy of having forced him to equip cursed equipment. I should be able to do it. Hang in there, me!

Just as “AAAA” was about to say something, I raised my voice.

“Th-This…”

“What incredible power, ‘AAAA’! I knew you would be able to master this balance-breaker equipment!”

“H-Huh?”

“As far as I know, you are the only player who can equip the Naming God series! In other words, ‘AAAA,’ you are a chosen being. From this moment onward, you have become someone in a hero-like position in this world! Congratulations, ‘AAAA’! And now that your level has exceeded one hundred fifty, you can return to being an S-rank adventurer! This is a great achievement! It is amazing! I see you in a whole new light, ‘AAAA’!”

“I-I can become an S-rank adventurer!?”

Somehow, “AAAA” looked happy.

At this rate, he might actually fall for it.

“That’s right! An S-rank adventurer! And while you are wearing the Naming God series, you take no damage! Well, if you use the ringed staff, you take just a tiny bit of damage, but ‘Reverse Scale of the Naming God’ has a drain effect too. That’s it! Let’s go report to the Adventurers’ Guild right now! With level one hundred fifty, your promotion is guaranteed!”

As I said that while pushing “AAAA” from behind, “AAAA” did not look entirely opposed to the idea.

“Y-You think so? But…”

“No doubt about it! Look at the charred Antlions over there. You defeated every single one of those Antlions, you know!? If the Adventurers’ Guild has any sense, they will not just leave you alone!”

“Y-You think so? You really think so too, Kakeru?”

“I do, I do! Defeating this many Antlions in one blow is something only you could do! It is a great achievement!”

“I-I see! Thank you, Kakeru! I feel like my energy is coming back.”

“Yeah, then let’s head to the Adventurers’ Guild for now! I’ll follow after you later!”

“Y-Yeah! Thank you!”

When I waved him off like that, “AAAA” stored the burned Antlions in his Item Storage and skipped toward Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil.”

It seemed I had succeeded in glossing everything over.

After watching “AAAA” transfer away, I broke out in a cold sweat in my heart.

“…Good thing he was an idiot.”

I could not believe he had actually fallen for that smooth talk… His straightforward personality really saved me.

The equipment from the Naming God series was effectively the strongest equipment. Either way, only “AAAA” could equip it.

It was cursed equipment, but “AAAA” had seemed happy too, so I guessed it was fine.

The problem was that I had unleashed a monster, or rather “AAAA,” into this game world, and I did not know whether even I could defeat him now…

“…”

W-Well, I guessed this was fine too…

If I changed how I looked at it and thought of this as gaining another fighting force capable of clearing advanced dungeons, it was a total win.

Now that it had come to this, I would have “AAAA” help clear advanced dungeons too.

As long as he had “Lament of the Naming God,” he should be able to finish off boss monsters in exchange for self-destruct attacks.

I let out a sigh, then started walking alone toward Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil.”