Chapter 194: I Bet Everyone Is Hiding.
....
"Sure."
"I have no objection."
Neither Asuna nor Sinon refused.
Regardless of anything else, Seito's gaming skills were world-renowned. Even if he couldn't use his original strength from the God Domain, his mechanical skill and tactical sense were bound to be top-tier.
Hearing their agreement, Seito voiced his plan.
"Let's settle on a strategy. I intend to just hunker down in this building and not step foot outside."
Camping at the starting location until the player count dwindled was a perfectly rational move. Asuna and the others agreed immediately.
The three entered the nearest room and settled onto the sofa. Seito opened the local game chat channel.
[Where is everyone?]
[Why don't you say your location first?]
[I bet everyone is hiding.]
[Bullshit! Am I that kind of person?]
[Quit pretending. I'll admit it—I'm camping!]
[Same here!]
[Same here +1]
[Same here +N]
"..."
Watching the bizarre scene in the chat channel, Seito fell silent. He realized that almost every player with a Eastern Country-style nickname was currently hunkered down.
Was this the legendary "Path of the Hidden"?
Players from the Eastern Country had a unique philosophy when it came to gaming. Before the God Domain even existed, they were known as "Game Terminators"
because they could find ways to break almost any game. Now that the second round had started, seeing the "last man standing" format, everyone's collective first thought was: Hide.
No matter how skilled you were, in a massive free-for-all with ten thousand players, camping was the most reliable strategy.
[Does nobody plan on coming out?]
[There's too much gunfire outside. The Western players are tearing each other apart like beasts!]
[If we're gonna camp, let's camp to the bitter end!]
[Hmph! Not only am I camping, I'm being a total 'Rat'! I just ambushed a Western player and took him out.]
[Rats for the win! You glorious bastard!]
[A bunch of trash! I'm not hiding!]
When he saw that last message, Seito blinked in surprise. The nickname was "Drunken Bastard," which clearly belonged to that idiot Iori Kitahara!
But... why wasn't Iori hiding? That didn't seem to fit his survival instincts at all.
Seito rubbed his chin. Right then, a familiar shout echoed from outside the building.
"You cowards! You rats! You morons! Come out and fight me! HAHAHA...!"
The voice was incredibly punchable. Seito traded a look with Asuna and Sinon. They walked to the window together, peeling back a sliver of the curtain to peer down at the street.
There stood Iori Kitahara, clad in a skin-tight suit, standing in the middle of the street and taunting everyone in the most obnoxious way possible.
"Hehehe...!"
"Why is nobody coming down? Come and hit your grandpa, you bunch of idiots!" Iori mocked.
Countless "rats" poked their heads out to check the situation. The Western players, unable to contain themselves, began firing directly at Iori.
But when the bullets hit Iori's body, they merely produced sparks. The players watching were stunned.
"Hahaha!!!" Iori roared with laughter.
"What's wrong? Are you white-skinned pigs stupid? I'll tell you the truth! My starting weapon is a Nano-Combat Suit! You can't hurt me no matter what! Hahaha...!"
Iori was a case of a fool having a fool's luck. When he saw his starting weapon was a Nano-Suit, he knew he was set! This suit allowed him to max out his defense. That was why he was being so reckless.
Below, Iori continued his tirade. Seito and the girls watched him transition from mocking Westerners to insulting the hidden campers, their expressions becoming increasingly strained.
"Is he... going to get beaten up?" Asuna couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know if he'll get beaten, but the chat channel has already exploded," Seito replied.
The two girls immediately opened their chats.
[Is this dog-son mocking us?]
[Brothers, should we jump him?]
[Let's do it! All us camping brothers, don't fight each other yet. Let's eliminate this clown and the Western players first.]
[Alright, I'll count down 3-2-1. Everyone with long-range weapons, fire at once!]
[Seconded!]
[Seconded!]
Closing the chat, the three looked down at Iori and mentally counted for three seconds.
Three!
Two!
One!
The countdown hit zero!
"Everyone, get him!"
Click-click-click—!!
Suddenly, at least three to five hundred people appeared simultaneously!
Some popped out of manholes, some dropped from trees, some leaned out of windows, and some even crawled out of the latrine pits. The sheer number of hidden players left the Westerners gap-eyed.
Iori gulped. He felt like he might have overplayed his hand. Who would have guessed there were five hundred people hiding in this one block?
"Everyone! Open fire!!"
One player set up a machine gun and began spraying. Everyone else followed suit!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!!
"Hahaha!! Die, you bastard!"
"He...He...He...! Drunken Bastard Executive, just go ahead and die!"
"Fellow Daoist, please proceed to your death!"
"Refreshing! This is so refreshing!"
"Damned straight! This feels good!!"
The roar of gunfire was incessant.
Combined with the shouting of the players, the area turned into a chaotic mess. The Western players didn't even have a chance to take cover before they were riddled with bullets.
As for Iori...
Even though the fire was concentrated on him, once he realized he was still perfectly fine, he let out a wicked grin.
"Hahaha...! Is there not a single one of you who can kill me? Trash! Absolute trash!"
While laughing, Iori even wiggled his rear. His taunt level was effectively maxed out.
"Dammit! This kid is too arrogant!"
"Curse it! Our weapons aren't doing a thing!"
"I'm about to go down there and take him on hand-to-hand!"
The players ground their teeth in frustration. Their guns were useless against him. It was incredibly annoying.
Just then, as the players were at their wits' end, another "rat" appeared in their line of sight, hauling a rocket launcher onto his shoulder.
"Bastard! Die for grandpa!"
Whoosh—!
...
Thank you for reading.