Chapter 1-41 : Preparing For The Event Ⅰ
After parting with Ruka, I strolled around the town while thinking about the strategy I would use in the upcoming PVP event.
My fighting style relies heavily on my【Sever】skill. There’s nothing wrong with it, but the problem is that I’m going to fight against players, not monsters.
I can defeat monsters with my【Sever】skill by hitting the red lines that appear on their weak spots without a problem because I can read their movements. However, players are different. They are human, not an AI that has been set with certain behaviors. My opponents will surely think of various strategies, so defeating them with this skill won’t be easy.
I can’t just rely on this skill alone. I think I should learn and develop new combat skills. It’s not too late if I start now.
「Ah! It’s Alice onee-chan!」(girl)
「Hm?」(Alice)
As I wandered around the residential area while thinking, I heard the voice of a little girl calling my name.
I turned around and saw a familiar group of kids playing in the small playground by the main street. I remember playing with them a few times. Back then, I realized I could level up【Nursery Rhyme】skill faster by playing with children.
「Hello there~」(Alice)
「Hello, Alice onee-chan!」
「Onee-chan, are you busy?」
「Let’s play again!」
「Yeah, let’s play together, Alice onee-chan!」(kids)
Now my【Nursery Rhyme】skill has evolved into【Children’s Song】. I still don’t know what this skill does exactly, but it’s not hurt to level it up, and I think this is a good opportunity to do that.
「Alright, let’s play!」(Alice)
「Yaay~!」
「That’s Alice onee-chan for you!」(kids)
I unequipped my【Swimming】skill and swapped it with【Children’s Song】in the active skill slot so that I could level up this skill.
Anyway, I’ll play with them for an hour or so and see how much this mysterious skill improves.
「So, what are we going to play?」(Alice)
「Let’s play tag!」
「hide and seek!」
「I want to play kagome kagome!」(kids)
「Alright, let’s play all of them!」(Alice)
「「Yaaayy~!」」(kids)
What energetic kids.
First, we played tag, and I was chosen as ‘it’.
It was difficult to chase these kids, not because they were quick, but because I was too fast. I had a hard time holding back so as not to accidentally hurt them.
My stats were too high compared to these kids. I should have unequipped all my combat skills before we started playing.
After we were done playing tag, we played hide and seek. One of the kids became the seeker, while I became a hider with the rest of the kids.
This time, I didn’t forget to unequip my combat skills, including【Concealment】to give them a chance to find me. They would never find me, and the game would never end if I used that skill.
「Alice onee-chan, I found you!」(kid)
「Arara, you found me.」(Alice)
I was bigger than these kids, and there were not many places for me to hide in this playground, so it was only a matter of time until the seeker found me.
Lastly, we were going to play kagome kagome, but the kids started fighting for some reason.
「I’m going to be the ‘Oni’!」
「No, I will!」
「No, I want to be the ‘Oni’!」(kids)
「Everyone, stop fighting! I will leave if you keep fighting!」(Alice)
「Eehhh!?」
「Please don’t!」
「Don’t leave yet!」(kids)
「Then we decide who will be the ‘Oni’ with rock-paper-scissors. No fighting, okay?」(Alice)
「Okay…」
「I’m sorry, Alice onee-chan.」(kids)
「Good.」(Alice)
*/TL : Kagome kagome is a popular Japanese children’s game. First, one person will be chosen as the “Oni” (Oni literally means demon, but in this case, it has a similar meaning as “it” in the hide-and-seek game). The Oni will stand in the center with their eyes closed while the other children form a circle around the Oni, holding hands and moving in a circle while singing the “Kagome kagome” song. When the song stops, the Oni must guess who the person standing behind them is. If the Oni’s guess is right, they win.
「Alright, are you ready~?」(Alice)
「「Rock paper scissors shoot!」」
「Yaay~ I’m the ‘Oni’」(girl)
The one who became the ‘Oni’ is the girl who spotted me when I passed by the street.
She stood in the center and covered her face with her hands. Meanwhile, the rest of the kids and I held hands and started circling around her and singing.
Of course, I started singing too.
「The bird in the cageー bird in the cage～♪ Whenー When will you come out～♪ In the evening of the dawn, the crane and the turtle slipped and slipped～♪」(Alice)
But, suddenly, the kids freeze altogether. They stopped moving and were just staring blankly into space. The girl in the center moved her hands away from her face and was also staring forward with blank eyes.
「Eh…? Everyone, what’s wrong?」(Alice)
「「……..」」(kids)
「Umm, guys? Hello?」(Alice)
「….Huh?」
「Hmm…?」
「…What…?」(kids)
They were just standing like statues for a few seconds, and then they looked at each other with confused faces.
「Wh, what happened?」(Alice)
「I don’t know… 」
「My mind went blank for a moment.」
「It felt weird…」(kids)
「What? But, are you guys alright now?」(Alice)
「Un!」
「Don’t worry, Onee-chan!」(kids)
「I see…」(Alice)
Now they look as energetic as usual.
That’s so weird. I don’t know what’s going on… Did I do something I wasn’t aware of…?
No, wait. They acted strangely when I started singing, right? Could it be the effect of【Children’s Song】?
Curious, I opened my “Skill” window to check. My【Children’s Song】skill was level 1, but now it’s level 2. That means playing with children does increase the level of this skill.
「I don’t know what happened, but let’s continue!」
「Yeah, let’s continue, Alice onee-chan!」(kids)
「A, alright.」(Alice)
To make sure if it really was【Children’s Song】skill’s doing, I unequipped the skill from the skill slot to deactivate it and continued playing kagome kagome with the kids.
I held their hands and started moving in a circle around the girl while singing with them.
However, this time, we completed the game without any problem.
At this point, I was convinced that the children acted weird earlier because of【Children’s Song】skill. I had no idea that this skill could affect NPCs. But, thank goodness, it doesn’t seem to affect these kids negatively in the long term. Seems like it’s only taking effect while I’m singing.
Since it can affect NPCs, it can likely affect monsters. I should try it out.
After playing with the kids for a while, I left the town and went to the nearby forest to look for some test subjects.
I climbed a tree and looked around. I found an Erst Wolf wandering around nearby. It seemed to be separated from its pack.
「Alright. Let’s try it on that wolf.」(Alice)
After deciding to use the poor wolf as my first test subject, I jumped off the tree and approached it.
It glared at me and growled as soon as it noticed me.
Ignoring its intimidation completely, I equipped my【Children’s Song】skill and started singing the “Kagome Kagome” song.
「The bird in the cageー bird in the cage～♪ Whenー When will you come out～♪ In the evening of the dawn, the crane and the turtle slipped and slipped～♪」(Alice)
At first, the wolf looked like it was ready to attack me anytime, but as soon as I started singing, it began to act strangely. It was looking around its surroundings with its mouth half open like a confused wolf.
While keeping on singing, I used【Appraiser】skill on it to see its status.
ーーーーー
Name : Erst Wolf
Status : confused
-Skills-
【Tearing Fangs】Lv 3
【Tearing Claws】Lv 2
【AGI Boost】Lv 1
【Keen Smell】Lv 1
【Group Action】Lv 1
ーーーーー
The wolf’s status was “confused”, which was the negative state that caused you to lose the ability to think.
Does it mean that my【Children’s Song】skill has become something like a debuff ability that can confuse my enemies?
This is awesome!
I can definitely use this skill together with my【Sever】skill!
But, I wonder why it’s called “Children’s Song”. There must be a reason.
I’m singing the “Kagome Kagome” song right now, but if I sing a different children’s song, will it have a different effect?
Let’s see…
「The queen of hearts, she made some tarts. All on a summer’s day～♪ The knave of hearts, he stole those tarts and took them clean away～♪」(Alice)
To find out if my guess was right, I started singing another children’s song called “The Queen of Hearts”. Soon after, the wolf’s behavior changed.
It was slowly stepping away from me with its head bowed down, and I noticed that its legs were trembling.
I used【Appraiser】to see its status again.
ーーーーー
Name : Erst Wolf
Status : fear
-Skills-
【Tearing Fangs】Lv 3
【Tearing Claws】Lv 2
【AGI Boost】Lv 1
【Keen Smell】Lv 1
【Group Action】Lv 1
ーーーーー
Now it’s under the negative status of “Fear”.
I knew it! Different songs have different effects!
What a huge discovery!
This skill is so powerful!
TOC
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