The northern slums.

Though it’s called northern, it’s not much different from the slums of other sectors. Ruins stretch endlessly, with broken houses and dilapidated buildings where the destitute live in hiding. Monsters that prey on humans lurk in the back alleys and the wreckage-filled, obscured ruins.

If there’s any difference, it’s that unlike the southern slums where small bosses create scattered bases, the northern slums are mostly controlled by a single team.

Inside one of the buildings in the northern slums, where the exterior walls were still intact without holes and the appearance still resembled a building, a banquet was being held.

An outsider would be shocked. The large hall, created by breaking through an entire floor, was as clean as a regular party venue. The walls were free of cracks, tastefully wallpapered, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were new, and the air conditioning made it comfortable.

Although the reception lobby was dilapidated, giving off the typical vibe of a ruined building, the hall was incongruously furnished, though it was clear that the appearance was somewhat concealed.

The hall was loud. Men and women, who exuded an air of roughness, were drinking alcohol, eating food piled on large plates, and making a ruckus.

“Drink up, drink up. We’re rich now. The future is bright! Isn’t that right, guys?”

“Hyahaa, as expected of Avege-sama! With these many spirit armors, there’s no one around here who can defy us!”

“Exactly. As expected of the boss’s right-hand man, Avege-sama! Hail, the modern-day Zhuge Liang!”

“We attacked the transport team to the farming area, but it was too easy. The explorers were all small fry, I almost wanted more of a challenge.”

At the far end of the hall, Avege, who was seated at the head, grinned as he guzzled his drink.

“Right? As long as you have spirit armor, you won’t lose. Now you know that gear is more important than skill, right?” (Avege)

The ruffians seated in the hall behaved like thugs, without a shred of elegance. If anyone with real skill were to see them, they’d scoff at how defenseless they were, lacking any aura of strength. But there was one difference that set them apart from ordinary thugs.

That difference was that they were all wearing spirit armor. Even though it wasn’t the expensive spirit armor that newly upgraded 2 Star explorers saved up to buy, it was still spirit armor. In that respect alone, the thuggish ruffians had been transformed into powerful foes.

“Really, really, the pale faces of those escort explorers when they saw us were hilarious.”

“Yeah, they’re always strutting around in spirit armor, but there were even some that panicked and ran when they saw all of us wearing it.”

“The way their expressions changed to despair as the spirit barriers were gradually worn down was priceless.”

“When we chopped off their limbs to take the spirit armor, they begged for their lives. What was it they said at first? Something about showing us the difference in skill? Buhahaha!”

“We use the spirit armor we’ve gathered through awakening scams to rob others. It’d take quite a bit of force to defeat us, but all the Surface District does is issue extermination requests. There’s no way we’d lose to a bunch of nobodies.”

Avege took another swig of his drink, satisfied with how well his plan had worked.

“As long as you have spirit armor, individual skill is just a trivial matter. It’s better to spend money on buying spirit armor rather than on the tuition for studying and training at the magic academy.”

The basic performance of spirit armor includes the energy field Spirit Barrier that blocks enemy attacks and the Fixed Body Strengthening that enhances physical capabilities to a certain extent. With these two features and a decent weapon, even a child could have the power to defeat an explorer.

—Even a Star 3 explorer would be no match for the force of sheer numbers.

“It’s not quality, it’s quantity. If we collect enough good spirit armor, we won’t even have to worry about Star 4 or Star 5. Even those of you who can only fight a little will become top-tier!”

“Exactly! It’s time for us to rise from this bottom-feeding life!”

“We’ve gathered about 60 pieces of cheap spirit armor through our scams. But that’s more than enough. And…we’ve got this. The artifact we got the other day, the Flying Arrow. We can easily sell it for hundreds of billions. With that money, we’ll buy the best spirit armor and operate as explorers.” (Avege)

Avege shouted his declaration to the others and guzzled his drink.

“Then we’ll become high-level explorers… We will become heroes! A high level explorer that goes beyond Star 6 can do anything. A worthless thief will be remembered as a hero of the people! With plenty of spirit armor and the boss’s power, it’ll be easy!”

“Weei! We’re with you all the way!”

The subordinates raised their cups and cheered loudly. Watching them, Avege narrowed his eyes and bit down hard on his lip.

(I’ll show those bastards who called me useless! I’ll prove them wrong… To those who said I was just a worthless branch family member!) (Avege)

He drank even more, swearing this strongly in his heart. His eyes harbor a desire for revenge, believing that today marked the beginning.

This is how, in the near future, this team would become notorious within the clan as one of the most heinous groups. They would kill their enemies and be feared for their strength.

—At least, that’s how the future was supposed to unfold.

The future was certainly riding on such rails.

If not for the gunfire that echoed from the floor below and the subordinate on watch rushing in, panic-stricken.

“T-This is bad, Avege-sama! We’re under attack!”

“Huh? Who the hell would be that stupid? Is it some foolish explorer who took a request to hunt bandits? How many are there?” (Avege)

“They look like explorers. As for the enemies…there’s only two of them!” 

“Only two? Don’t panic, you idiot. Send about ten men to deal with those fools. Since there are only two of them, they’re probably wearing spirit armor, so don’t damage the armor too much, got it?” (Avege)

“Understood! Hey, you lot, leave the drinks for later. Let’s go.”

The subordinates reluctantly stood up with an irritated tone and headed downstairs.

They probably thought it was just a group of ordinary thieves, never imagining that all the thieves would be equipped with spirit armor. Avege sneered and drank, convinced of their victory.

But the gunfire didn’t stop. On the contrary, it gradually grew closer.

◇◇

“So, this is the hideout of the secret society, Red Rampaging Boar, old man?”

“Yeah, that’s right. If left unchecked, it’d become a vicious organization. And it’s not a secret society, it’s an evil clan.”

Lanpeach and Touka had come to Avege’s hideout, tracking him down after he had gone missing two days earlier.

“Mumuh, a secret society. Two mysterious explorers who take it down. This is it! This is what I’ve always dreamed of!” (Touka)

Touka’s eyes sparkled as she breathed roughly with excitement, without having any intention of listening to Lanpeach’s explanation. 

Lanpeach sighed, accepting this as her just being a weirdo.

“You bastards! How dare you kill my comrades!” 

A man with a sword leaped out from around the corner of the dilapidated building’s corridor.

“You guys attacked us first even though we came to collect the Flying Arrow that had awakened.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach aimed the newly purchased BD gun and pulled the trigger. The sound of gunfire echoed as the special piercing bullets, resembling small spears, flew toward the enemy.

“Ha, don’t underestimate me. A gun can’t hurt me!”

[Iron Body]

Crackling sounds rang. His body began to emit sparks, and his skin turned to the color of iron.

“Fuhahaha, a technique that turns your flesh into iron, granting invincible defense. Now, l-l-l—” 

But before he could finish, his head was riddled with bullets, collapsing to the floor. The spirit barrier was destroyed in an instant, and even his iron body was no match for the power of the bullets.

[Are these people stupid? Why do they keep using the same technique and getting killed?] (Libra)

[This quest isn’t much different in the future. The enemies wear spirit armor, but they only carry melee weapons, so it’s an easy quest. The grunts hardly use magic for some reason.] (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach** looked at the corpse and shrugged, but continued walking down the hallway strewn with corpses. There was no trace of guilt on his face; it was as if he had merely defeated some game enemies and was now interested in the items they dropped. <TLN: original said Libra, but author most likely meant Lanpeach.>

“Old man, how did you know this was a secret society’s hideout? Was it a message from space?!” (Touka)

There was no hint of concern in her tone as she asked, apparently unfazed by the deaths of the thieves. Touka was clearly well-trained.

“What kind of aliens would tell us where a band of thieves is hiding? We have an insider working for us.” (Lanpeach)

“Ah, I knew it! Mimi-chan’s the one who infiltrated, right? I wanted to infiltrate with her too~!” (Touka) 

Touka puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but she didn’t look like someone who could pull off an infiltration. Her curiosity would likely get the better of her, and she’d probably end up getting caught while trying to explore the thieves’ hideout.

“Mimi can conceal herself, but you wouldn’t be able to do that, Touka. Right person for the right job.” (Lanpeach)

Over the past three days, Touka had been searching every corner of the Ultra Suite Room to see where Mimi was hiding despite having a guest, Lanpeach, but finally figured it out now.

When the Flying Arrow was handed over, he secretly sent Mimi to follow them. There was concern that she might fall asleep along the way, but she did her job properly. It seems she still follows instructions, so the worry was unnecessary.

Even now, the map projected in the air showed Mimi sleeping soundly in the warehouse where the Flying Arrow was stored.

“I get that it’s thanks to Mimi-chan, but there’s one more thing that’s been bothering me.” (Touka)

“What is it?” (Lanpeach)

A few more thugs ran down the hallway shouting ‘you bastards’, so Lanpeach shot them down with his gun again. The enemies turned their bodies to iron just like before but were killed with their heads shot through.

“Spirit barriers aren’t supposed to break that easily, so why are they being destroyed so quickly??? Is that gun really that powerful?” (Touka)

In Touka’s understanding, spirit armor with defensive skills was tough, and only close-range attacks could deal damage. 

That’s why the enemies they’ve encountered so far have only carried melee weapons. It’s a standard battle strategy, but seeing Lanpeach effortlessly taking them down felt incredibly strange.

“Headshots deal six times the damage.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach answered nonchalantly.

“Eh?” (Touka)

“I said headshots deal six times the damage. If you harden your body and stop moving, you just become an easy target.” (Lanpeach)

In Lanpeach’s game logic, headshots deal six times the damage. And that logic was being applied in reality.

“That’s why this is like a bonus stage. The downside is that the active time is short, so it’s hard to get the quest.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach continued to mow down the enemies while saying this.

“Six times the damage… Is that alien technology? Hey, hey, old man, wait up!” (Touka)

Touka’s eyes sparkled as she chased after Lanpeach, convinced that he really must be an alien.

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