Nostalgia World Online 1-47

 

Chapter 1-47 : The Birth Of The Head Hunting Princess Ⅰ

 

「Here I go!【Berserk】!」(Kenya)

As soon as he activated his skill, Kenya dashed toward me and swung his greatsword vertically.

He was much faster than before; perhaps that skill boosted his overall physical abilities. Still, I was faster than him thanks to my high AGI stats, so I managed to dodge his blade. As a result, his greatsword hit the ground.

ーCRACK!

It was so powerful that it left a big crack on the solid arena floor. I would have surely suffered a lot of damage if it had hit me.

「Heaa!」(Kenya)

「ー!!」(Alice)

He wasn’t done yet. He pulled his greatsword and swung it at me again. Horizontally, this time.

I then swiftly dodged it by jumping. The blade cut through the air right under my feet.

Next, he swung it diagonally, forcing me to jump backward, creating a gap between me and him.

「Hmph. Is that all you can do? Dodging my attacks?」(Kenya)

「I’m waiting for an opening!」(Alice)

「Haha! As if I would give you an opening! My【Berserk】skill allows me to move as fast as an AGI-type player and also boosts my STR at the same time.」(Kenya)

I knew it. That’s why he could move fast while hitting so hard.

I managed to dodge his attacks, but I couldn’t find any openings and bring myself to hit the red line on his neck.

As expected, fighting a player is not as easy as fighting monsters.

I didn’t want to use ‘it’ at this early stage, but… Seems like I have no choice.

I took out a certain item and held it in my free hand.

「Using an item, huh? Hm? What the hell is that? Beans?」(Kenya)

Kenya was confused when he saw the items in my hand.

I answered his question with a silent smirk.

「Haha! Are you kidding me? You’re gonna fight me with beans?」(Kenya)

「Yeah, and these ‘beans’ will be the reason for your defeat!」(Alice)

I threw the “beans” into the air, scattering them all over the arena floor.

Some of them fell toward Kenya, but he blocked them with his greatsword. He laughed at these “beans”, but he was wary of them.

After I ‘planted’ them, I crouched down, put my free hand on the ground, and then activated a skill.

「【Rapid Growth】!」(Alice)

BRRRRRRRRRRー

Soon after, the entire arena started shaking.

It wasn’t an earthquake. The arena was shaking because the “beans” were reacting to my skill.

At the same time as the huge chunk of my MP was absorbed, the beans grew at tremendous speed and transformed into huge trees, turning the entire arena floor into a forest.

「WhーWhat the hell is this!?」(Kenya)

「Welcome to my hunting field~」(Alice)

That’s right. The items I had just spread were not beans. They were seeds.

I grinned at Kenya as he looked around with his jaw dropped, looking so shocked.

But he wasn’t the only one shocked. I could hear the loud cheers from the spectators in the stadium. They seemed to be surprised, too.

『What a shocker! The arena turned into a forest in the blink of an eye! Lord Creator, would you explain what had just happened?』(Taurus)

『I’m pretty sure Miss Alice used a skill called【Rapid Growth】, which is the advanced version of【Growth Acceleration】. It’s a cultivation skill for gardening that can help you grow plants, but… I’ve never thought someone would use it in a fight. She’s such a clever girl.』(Shinji Todo)

As expected from the president of the developer company. He knew about this skill.

As he said, it’s a cultivation skill for gardening. Most people probably wouldn’t think of using this skill in a fight.

I’m used to fighting in the forest by taking advantage of the surrounding trees, meaning that I would be able to unleash my full potential if I fought in the forest, but since I would fight in an arena without any obstacles, I was thinking of ‘bringing the forest to the arena itself’. So I came up with this idea.

Alright. Now it’s time to strike back.

Let the hunt begin!

「【Black Curtain】!」(Alice)

After drinking an MP potion to restore some of my MP, I cast a dark magic spell I learned the other day.

It has the effect of darkening my enemy’s surroundings. It was similar to a smoke bomb, but much stronger, enough to blind them for a few seconds.

「You’re planning to attack me in the dark, huh? Bring it on! I won’t let you touch me!」(Kenya)

Kenya switched into a guarding stance. He was moving his eyes around, indicating that he had lost sight of me.

While he couldn’t see me, I activated my【Concealment】skill to erase my presence and hid in the shadows.

I could sneak attack him now, but judging from his expression, he looked confident that he would be able to parry my attack in that condition. I’m afraid he has a high level of【Perception】skill or the advanced version of it. I can’t attack him so carelessly.

Looks like I have to use my other trump card just in case.

I took a deep breath and started singing.

「The queen of hearts, she made some tarts. All on a summer’s day～♪」(Alice)

「Huh?」(Kenya)

「The knave of hearts, he stole those tarts and took them clean away～♪」(Alice)

「What the…」(Kenya)

「The king of hearts called for the tarts and chopped the knave’s head off～♪ Chop his head off～♪ Chop his head off～♪」(Alice)

「ー!?」(Kenya)

 

ーーーーー

 

*/TL : The perspective changed to Kenya’s.

I had no idea what was going on.

That girl started singing the moment I lost sight of her.

I don’t know why, but I felt a chill run down my spine. It’s not that she’s bad at singing, but the more I heard her singing, the weirder I felt.

I rarely experience this kind of feeling in my entire life, but I know what it is.

It’s… fear…

「Stop it!」(Kenya)

I told her to stop, but she kept singing that creepy song.

I wanted to cover my ears, but I had to stay vigilant and kept holding my greatsword firmly with both hands.

I can’t see her, and I don’t know where she is. She must have been using【Stealth】or【Concealment】skill to hide her presence, but it doesn’t matter. I have upgraded my【Perception】Skill, so the moment she gets closer to sneak attack me, I will detect her and parry her blade.

Anyway, I can’t stay in one place. I have to keep moving for now.

ーThud

「Hm?」(Kenya)

I was thinking of moving and looking for that girl in this “forest”, but when I was about to take my first step, my right foot hit something on the floor.

I spontaneously moved my gaze down toward that thing, butー

「ー!?」(Kenya)

I immediately jumped out of shock.

I never thought I would see such a creepy thing here in the arena…

The thing I hit with my foot was… The headless corpse of an Erst Wolf…

I could see blood was still dripping from the clean cut on the neck.

「What!? Why is there an Erst Wolf corpse here!?」(Kenya)

This is weird… Don’t monsters disappear when they’re killed?

Feeling disgusted by the corpse in front of me, I took a few steps backward, and then I hit something again with my foot.

I turned my head around and looked down.

「ー!!」(Kenya)

This time, it was the head of an Erst Wolf. It must have belonged to the headless body on the other side.

Unable to handle the creepiness, my stomach started to feel weird.

I tried to move away from that spot, but then I realized that I was surrounded by countless Erst Wolf corpses, with all the heads separated from the bodies. Some were lying on the ground, and some others were hanging on the branches of the trees.

「Hiiiyyyー!!」(Kenya)

「Fufu~」(Alice)

I could hear the girl’s giggle echoing through the “forest”.

She must think it’s funny to see me scream like that.

「Are you trying to prank me!? This is not funny!」(Kenya)

I looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. All I could see were the creepy corpses and the gloomy-looking trees covered in blood.

My arms and my knees started shaking. The fear I was feeling gradually grew stronger and stronger until I lost control and began to run, trying to escape this spooky “forest”.

「Dammit, dammit, dammit!」(Kenya)

「The bird in the cageー bird in the cage～♪」(Alice)

While I was running desperately, she started singing a different song for some reason.

「What the hell’s wrong with her!?」(Kenya)

I ignored her and kept running.

There’s no ring-out penalty for this round, so I don’t have to worry about going out of the arena floor.

Anyway, I have to get out of this “forest” first and then think about a strategy to beat this girl after that.

「Whenー When will you come out～♪」(Alice)

「………」(Kenya)

「In the evening of the dawn～♪」(Alice)

「*Breathe heavily* Hahh… Hahh…」(Kenya)

「The crane and the turtle slipped and slipped～♪」(Alice)

「Hahhh… Hahh… Hahhhh… Hahh….」(Kenya)

This is weird… I’ve been running for a while, but I haven’t reached the wall yet.

This arena is only one hundred meters in diameter, right? It’s not that big, and I keep running straight, but why the hell am I still in this freaking “forest”!?

What is going on!? What the hell is wrong with this match!?

Giving up, I stopped to catch my breath.

My heart rate went up, my limbs were shaking, and my face was covered in cold sweat.

I felt scared and confused at the same time.

「The bird in the cageー bird in the cage～♪ Whenー When will you come out～♪」(Alice)

No matter how hard I tried, it seemed that I would never escape her voice and this creepy “forest”.

「Shut up!」(Kenya)

「In the evening of the dawn～♪ The crane and the turtle slipped and slipped～♪」(Alice)

「I said shut up!」(Kenya)

I held my greatsword with my trembling hands, trying as best as I could to keep my weapon ready and remain on guard.

However… my effort was futile…

「Guess who’s right behind you～♪」(Alice)

At the same time she finished the song, I could hear the sound of footsteps slowly approaching me from behind.

I turned around, but I didn’t see anyone.

「ーKhh! Hwaaaaaaaaa!!」(Kenya)

Panicking, I was thinking of swinging my greatsword around, hoping I would hit the girl somehow, but my sword felt so heavy.

No, it wasn’t my weapon that was heavy. It was my arms that had lost their strength due to extreme fear.

I tried to calm down and think of a way to get out of this situation. Howeverー

ーSLASH!

It was too late.

It happened so fast.

The moment I realized it, my vision was slowly rotating as if the entire world was spinning.

For a split second, I could see my bodyー my headless body collapsing to the ground.

And the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was… a young girl in a kimono gazing down at me with a cold smile.

 

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