MV – Chapter 100: Chain Quest and Minor Villain

Reigokai: One hundred chapters! Yay!

——

“Soldier, this is bad!” (Libra)

“Calm down, it’s all going according to plan.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach shrugged at the panicking Libra and, with a grin he thought was charming, watched Masakatsu flee. Letting him escape was part of the plan. It would be problematic instead if he didn’t run.

“I can’t calm down! I can’t win at this slot machine no matter how many coins I put in! I can’t even get a single cherry to line up!” (Libra)

It seemed Libra wasn’t concerned about Masakatsu escaping. She was furiously feeding coins into the machine. Her bad luck is almost impressive. It is clear she should never be allowed to gamble again.

“Can I start calling you a ‘useless girl’ now? What are you to me again?” (Lanpeach)

“Huh, what? Obviously, your beloved girlfriend! Oh, I’ll take these coins since you’re probably not going to use them anymore, okay?” (Libra)

“Can you not become your classic deaf protagonist? Whatever. I completed the quest, anyway.” (Lanpeach)

This silver-haired twin-tail is already hopeless. He sighed internally, now sure that silver-haired characters are hopeless. Even so, his objective had been achieved.

[You’ve completed the quest: Expose the Casino Owner’s Crimes. Earned 10,000 EXP.]

This casino, Gold Rush, was owned by Yarita Masakatsu, a member of a powerful Armed Family, involved in all kinds of illegal activities from human trafficking to supporting thieves. In the game, there was a quest to expose his crimes.

Lanpeach had planned to do this after dealing with the con artist Avege, but had completely forgotten about it due to the Twin Spirit issue. He was reminded when Guy mentioned it.

Normally, you’d gather evidence, gain the support of other Armed Families, and eventually expose the crimes; a tedious city adventure. But there was a shortcut.

That shortcut is to use telekinesis to cheat and rack up the cash. Masakatsu would lose it and show himself, making it easy to defeat him. In other words, brute force. It was a perfect approach for a minor villain like Lanpeach.

“Hey, Soldier. That guy’s getting away.” (Libra)

“I let him go on purpose. When he runs, a chain quest starts, and I love nothing more than easy EXP from chain quests.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach watched Masakatsu flee, grinned, and started walking leisurely.

“Kill him! Attack! It’s an all-out assault!”

Masakatsu’s shout echoed as he ran, and the casino guards with submachine guns swarmed in, forming a barrier between him and Lanpeach.

“Don’t point those guns at me!”

“Do you know who I am?!”

“Don’t push! I’m getting out of here!”

“Where’s the vault?!”

The guards aimed their guns, and the other patrons, finally panicking, started fleeing. There was a man who must be wearing spirit armor under his clothes, he kicked over slot machines to use as barricades; there was also a woman that shot out fire; an old man that pushed away the staff as he ran away; and a black haired girl who was stuffing wads of exchangeable currency while shouting where’s the vault. It was chaos.

“F-Fire!”

“How brave even though the direct subordinates of Masakatsu have been defeated. Well, I’ll spare the regular guards. Dying here wouldn’t match their paychecks, after all.” (Lanpeach)

[Mass-Produced Henchman A: Level 1]

Lanpeach saw the comically labeled enemies, and snapped his fingers with a smirk.

Steel plates floated up, intercepting the bullets. The metallic sound of the ricochets echoed through the room, making both patrons and staff scatter in terror even more.

Not a single bullet reached Lanpeach. He had grown quite accustomed to manipulating the iron plates, and handling ten at once was now an easy task.

“Just deal with a few broken bones, alright? I’m sure your insurance will cover it.” (Lanpeach)

[Telekinesis]

The modded iron plates, each weighing over 100 kilograms, became deadly weapons as they deflected the bullets without even a dent.

“Here you go.” (Lanpeach)

“GYAAAAAHHH!”

“S-So heavy…!”

“I can’t move! Somebody, help me!”

Lanpeach swatted the guards like flies with the iron plates, knocking them down and leaving the iron plates on top of them as he calmly walked out of the VIP room and into a door labeled “Staff Only”.

The remaining patrons and staff exchanged looks, glancing at the defeated guards pinned under the heavy plates. Broken slot machines, the turned over roulette, coins scattered around; the once luxurious casino, exclusive to the wealthy elite, now looked nothing like its former self.

“W-Who was that guy?”

“I-I don’t know, but this is gonna be a big deal.”

“Yeah, he picked a fight with the Yarita family. There’s going to be a massive war now.”

“We’d better stay away from this casino for a while.”

The Yarita family was a powerful Armed Family, and there was no way they would leave this insult unpunished. Whoever this guy was, he must have backing just as strong as the Yarita family.

They could easily imagine what would happen next. Massive confrontations with no regard for public order. They don’t know which house it was, but the scope of the ruins might increase. Some even began to anticipate the flow of money such conflicts might bring, their faces showing a mix of fear and expectation.

The patrons left after nodding to each other, while the staff struggled to remove the heavy steel plates from the pinned guards.

◇◇

“Noooo! I’ll take a bath with you next time! I’ll even wear a micro bikini! Just let me play the slots a little longer! I can feel a big win coming! The number of reach actions has been increasing too!” (Libra)

The stubborn beauty, acting like a spoiled child, flailed as Lanpeach dragged her away by the back of her collar. This girl might be no support character.

“Slot machines with tons of reach actions are scams. Give it up already.” (Lanpeach) 

The thought of a bath with her was tempting, but Lanpeach’s ice cold resolve held firm as he pulled the flailing Libra along the hallway.

“It’s a chain quest, so help me out. I’ll even set up a casino at the Lanpeach Complex for you. Cee-lo, pachinko machines, mahjong, whatever you want.” (Lanpeach)

“I want something stylish like these slots~. A glamorous casino fit for a celebrity like me! The roulettes, slots, and high-and-lows done under a chandelier! None of that shabby gambling stuff that sweaty men play~.” (Libra)

Libra’s eyes teared up as she thrashed about.  How old was she mentally again?

“That’s a bit of a stereotype. Girls play mahjong too, you know. Well, I kinda get what you mean though…” (Lanpeach)

“Die! Urgh!”

A thug leaped out of the shadows, but Lanpeach casually kicked him aside. Sneak attacks no longer worked on him.

Lanpeach was effortlessly defeating the goons even as they conversed. The hallway became littered with unconscious bodies, yet he walked on as if kicking aside stones.

“This chain quest still has a long way to go.” (Lanpeach)

[Find Evidence of Human Trafficking: Free the Prisoners!]

The second quest looked like it was sparkling to him.

“Human trafficking? Isn’t that a bit medieval?” (Libra)

“Hmm, the Yarita family is involved in a succession war, and the fool Masakatsu is trying to make money through illegal means. Moreover…where they’re selling the people is an issue too.” (Lanpeach)

“Is it the classic of selling them for experiments or something? To some mad mage?” (Libra) 

Libra finally calmed down and started walking beside him, responding seriously. She was surprisingly sharp.

“Exactly. There’s a lab run by a mad mage down in the basement.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach slid a part of the wall on the corner at a dead-end with nothing in sight. When he did, a card reader revealed itself.

“Ugh, that’s a big spoiler. There’s probably some grotesque chimera down there, right?” (Libra)

“Yup. Classic stuff.” (Lanpeach)

[Psycho Cracking]

Lanpeach hacked the card reader, causing a hidden door to slide open. Libra pouted with dissatisfaction and shot him a blank stare.

“Aren’t you supposed to find a key card or gather clues to open secret passages?” (Libra)

Libra was clearly unimpressed with Lanpeach’s speedrunning of what should have been a city adventure, her cheeks puffed out in protest, wanting to enjoy things a bit more.

(I get how she feels, but that’s just how it is.) (Lanpeach)

The door opened to reveal an elevator. Lanpeach flashed a crafty grin as they stepped in.

“Did you know? City adventures fall apart in no time when high-level mages are involved.” (Lanpeach)

He shrugged as the elevator slowly descended. This tendency was especially prominent with hacking skills since you don’t need to search for keys in futuristic games.

When they reached the basement, the elevator doors slid open with a clang, and…

“Take t—!”

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

The guards waiting with guns were instantly mowed down by iron plates.

“Now then… Where should we go next?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach glanced around at the unconscious guards and confirmed his surroundings. There’s three branching corridors and there’s no telling where each one of them led to. 

But he knew exactly where each one led because of his game knowledge.

“The right leads to the prison. Straight ahead is the vault, and the left is the lab with the Chimeranpeach that was debt-ridden and ended up having his body experimented with.” (Lanpeach)

“…In the game?” (Libra)

“Yeah. Lanpeach ended up with a whole ton of debt and turned into a chimera.” (Lanpeach)

They exchanged glances, falling silent for a moment. An awkward time.

“The Lanpeach here was the strongest one. When you beat it, you get the key hacker to unlock the electronic doors.” (Lanpeach)

The Chimeranpeach had a variety of spells, high attack power, and incredible durability, making it a tough fight. There were times when you could easily lose. In fact, people said they had a harder time with this compared to the final boss.

“Let’s head to the prison first. We need to free Krishna.. We’ll hit the lab after that.” (Lanpeach)

“Okay~. That’ll trigger a chain quest. It is true that a lot of fates are bound to change with this.” (Libra)

“Okay~. I’ll go to the vault. I think the fate of my wallet is bound to change.” (Mira)

Lanpeach headed towards the prison with a cheerful reply from the cute support characters.

――He grinned at the thought of earning a ton of experience points due to the fact that Krishna was captured. Scratch that, let’s say his face was that of sympathy towards the pitiful protagonist.

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