Chapter 172: A Group Quest Arrives
Ryū had no idea that depositing Jiraiya into a refuse container had produced the specific effect it had on Danzō. He didn't know what Danzō was thinking. He didn't particularly want to.
His Observation Haki had registered the watchers in the shadows during the restaurant encounter — faint presences, careful and professional. He'd noted them and filed them away. Swatting surveillance operatives wasn't worth the energy expenditure. Let them watch. There was nothing to find.
Back home now. Wall patched. Bathroom crack sealed. The particular relief of a mildly obsessive person who has finally dealt with a structural imperfection they've been looking at for weeks settled over him like good weather.
He was also, for the record, no longer worried about anyone peering at him through cracked walls while he used the facilities. His Observation Haki radius made the concern academic, but still. The principle.
In the group chat:
Eternally Seventeen: Just tried the Arena. Honestly not bad — only died two or three times.
Eternally Seventeen: If I hadn't suddenly run out of Points, I was absolutely going to take that wretch apart piece by piece!!
Eternally Seventeen: In my entire existence I have never been so thoroughly humiliated!!
Eternally Seventeen: OUTRAAAGEOUS AHHHHH
Kaguya-sama: Yukari-nee-san that's actually really good — I died SIXTY TIMES. 60. In the Arena. The Arena killed me sixty times. 😭
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: …We died seventeen times. We were nearly broken by it.
Terrible Tornado: Heh… heh heh… heh heh heh. I died seventy-eight times. The Arena generated a power that hard-countered mine — and then gave the enemy a slight edge on top of that. I was completely outclassed.
Terrible Tornado: I just kept reviving. And reviving. And reviving.
Terrible Tornado: Eventually I found its weak point and fought it for an entire day before it went down.
Crazy Diamond: After hearing all this I'm genuinely scared to go in.
Ryū had thought twenty deaths was a lot.
Kaguya had died sixty times. Tatsumaki, seventy-eight. The revival cost was 20 Points each, which meant Kaguya had burned 1,200 Points and Tatsumaki a full 1,560, just on respawns. Ying Zheng had managed seventeen — still close to Ryū's own twenty, and 340 Points down.
The pattern was becoming clear.
The Arena didn't generate generic opponents. It generated specific opponents — designed around each Member's known weaknesses, then given a slight power advantage on top of that. Which meant the early deaths were almost guaranteed, because the enemy was purpose-built to win against the exact version of you that walked in. You had to die enough times to understand it before you could start making real progress.
That was an extremely effective training methodology. It was also extremely expensive.
RawrSoFierce: The Arena enemies are doing something specific — they're generated to target each person's weak points, then given a slight edge over us on top of that.
RawrSoFierce: Defeat one, and you've actually addressed the weakness. That's the mechanic.
Eternally Seventeen: The Admin resurfaces from the depths once again.
RawrSoFierce: I post every day. I just wasn't posting during the Arena stretch.
Kaguya-sama: Admin — did you die in there too?
RawrSoFierce: …More than a few times, yes.
Admiral Kizaru: Even someone as terrifying as Admin runs into trouble in there~ This Arena is the real deal~
Eternally Seventeen: Admin got killed!! LGTM!! Does that make me Admin now~?
RawrSoFierce: I'll slap you so hard into a wall they'll need tools to get you out.
Eternally Seventeen: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!! ADMIN IS ABUSING HIS AUTHORITY!!
Kaguya-sama: ???
RawrSoFierce: What kind of line is that and why does it sound like that out of context.
RawrSoFierce: Are you actually attracted to me, you gap youkai?
Kaguya-sama: !!!
"…"
Ryū actually turned this question over for a moment.
Yukari had existed for several thousand years at minimum. Whatever interest she'd once had in that particular category of experience had presumably been thoroughly processed and filed away well before the invention of modern plumbing. The mischief was almost certainly purely performative — a thousand-year-old creature amusing itself with the reactions of people who couldn't tell the difference between genuine intent and elaborate trolling.
Almost certainly.
If she ever found out how old I actually am — or more precisely, how young—
He shelved the thought. The mental image of Yukari appearing every time he opened the chat with some variation of oh my~ it's our adorable little Admin~ was not one he needed to spend time with.
The chat notification arrived before he'd finished the thought.
[Dimensional world detected: Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. Eligible new Member identified: "Sawamura Spencer Eriri." Invitation Quest confirmed. Complete the Invitation Quest to bring the new Member into the Dimensional Chat Group. Quest details: [Link]]
"...That's fast. The major update was only a few days ago."
He read the name again.
Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
Yes. He knew this one. Blonde. Tsundere. Illustrator. The specific genre of illustrations she specialised in had earned her a certain reputation in certain corners of the internet that he wasn't going to spell out in detail, but the phrasing "painter outside an ICBC branch" covered it adequately. Saekano — one of those series that had been perfectly enjoyable right up until the original author had apparently made a series of baffling creative decisions that had provoked, in Ryū's first life, a genuine sense of grievance.
He briefly envisioned applying the Six King Pistol — maximum rotation variant, the one that had come close to putting down the Nine-Tails — to a specific light novel author.
He set this aside.
He tapped the quest link.
[Invitation Quest: "Sawamura Spencer Eriri" of the Saekano world is currently under attack by a Reincarnator. Eliminate the relevant Reincarnator to complete this Quest.
Recovering the Reincarnator's Watch grants an additional 500 Point bonus.
Participants: 1 Time Limit: 1 day Reward: 100 Points]
"100 Points."
He read it again.
"A third of a Blackbeard. No — a thirtieth. They're getting weaker." He considered the phrasing. "Or possibly this is a baseline Reincarnator without any augmentation. Something that wouldn't break triple digits without the Watch bonus."
Low-difficulty quest. Single participant. One day. Realistically, Sakura could probably handle this.
But fair was fair — open competition.
RawrSoFierce: Everyone see the new quest that just popped up?
RawrSoFierce: @All Members — dice roll for the slot, go.
Kaguya-sama: Sawamura Spencer Eriri? Unusual name…
Kaguya-sama: [Dice] 5 points.
Admiral Kizaru: [Dice] 3 points.
Eternally Seventeen: [Dice] 4 points.
Eternally Seventeen: …Spiralling.
WolfKingOfQingQingGrasslands: [Dice] 2 points.
I'm Rolling In It: Haha, clearly this slot has my name on it, crossing into another world — [Dice] 1 point …???
Kaguya-sama: Pfft — I'm sorry, I can't help it.
RawrSoFierce: Hm — I only got 4?
RawrSoFierce: Most people are still in the Arena grinding. Current high roll is Kaguya-sama — opening her cross-world permissions now.
RawrSoFierce: @Kaguya-sama — permissions are live, you can cross over directly.
Kaguya-sama: WOW!! First time I've ever rolled higher than Admin — I'm actually emotional!! LGTM!! I WILL complete this quest and bring the new Member back!!
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