I Defeated the Guide Angel and I Became a Necromancer ~ I Feel Like I'm Playing a Different Game from Everyone Else, but I'm Doing Fine ~ - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Conquering the Marsh

◆ Rinne and Perseus: Journey Across the Marshes of Jeed ◆

Moving further south from the Tarlash Forest, on the west side of Jeed City, the marshes are treacherous terrain. A grassy area with high humidity, puddles, large ponds, and swampland make it challenging for anyone to walk.

“Perforate, Curse Spear.”

“The Giant Frog (Lv. 19) took 170 damage. The Giant Frog (Lv. 19) is now in a cursed state.”

“Croak…”

“Step back!”

“Perseus (Lv. 16) unleashes [Hyper Slash], dealing 469 damage to the Giant Frog (Lv. 19).”

“The Giant Frog (Lv. 19) succumbs to slip damage. Experience gained: 1,960.”

All thanks to Donta’s effortless ride. Shooting Cursed Spear while mounted on Donta and Pers-chan activating the magical sword beam, Hyper Slash, usually does the trick in defeating enemies. The experience points earned are significant, and merely strolling around, hunting enemies, is rapidly boosting our levels. Currently, both Pers-chan and I are at level 16. I leveled up a bit faster initially, with Pers-chan catching up later. After that, Donta levels up when you least expect it, and Aurelia is leveling up excessively, awaiting evolution. That’s our current progress.

“My magic skills are not improving…”

“I heard that magic skills usually don’t increase unless you read magic books. You have to discover new magic or find a new magic book other than the recommended ones like The Art of Necromancy’ or The Art of Dark Magic. That’s the only way.”

“Mmm…”

By the way, my level keeps going up, but my skills haven’t seen much improvement. The only boost is in ‘Necromancy – Soul Steal,’ a passive skill that is always active, not one that you have to activate. Soul Steal boosts the experience gained upon defeating enemies, yet its name doesn’t truly convey its impact.

“What about you, Pers-chan? Show me your stats.”

“One shouldn’t reveal their stats to others too frequently. It’s essential to keep it a secret, you know?”

“I understand!”

“Wauu (I understand!)”

“Oh, it’s somewhat similar… nn! It’s nothing! Well, but if it’s you, Rinne, I’ll show you!”

So, here’s Pers-chan’s status.

・Status

【Name】 Perseus

【Level】 16

【Gender】 Female

【Occupation】 (Disguised) Swordsman 【Concealed】 Dark Princess

【Karma Value】 -500 (Sinner)

【HP】 889/889

【MP】 421/570

【PP】 5/5

【STR】 4+32

【AGI】 4+32

【TEC】 4

【VIT】 4+48

【MAG】 64+22

【MND】 4

【Skills】

【Magic Sword Arts】【Concealment】
・Magic Sword Summoning【Per Second MP5 Consumption】

・Hyper Slash【MP50】

【Dark Princess】【Concealment】
・Maiden’s Charge【PP1】

・Maiden’s Blessing【PP1】

・Magic Shield Aegis【PP1】【Penetrate 1】

・Elegant & Dynamic【Passive】

【Equipment】

Right Hand: Not Available

Left Hand: Not Available

Head: Platinum Helm +7【Avatar: ★Princess Crown】

Body 1: Platinum Armor +7【Avatar: ★Princess Knight’s Armor – Red】

Body 2: Platinum Underarmor +7【Avatar: White Leotard】

Legs: Platinum Greaves +7【Avatar: ★Princess Knight’s Greaves – White】

Accessory【Ring】: Platinum Ring

Accessory【Arm】: Princess Gauntlet【Concealment】【Disguised Name: Golden Gauntlet】

Accessory【Neck】: Turquoise Necklace

Accessory【Other】: Ruby Earrings

Her stats are incredible! There might be variations due to the quality of her equipment, but I can’t shake off this unbelievable sense of a gap, feeling it!!!

Moreover, what’s the deal with the Princess Gauntlet? I checked the details, and it’s seriously high-performing! The VIT value is tripled to what is increased when you level-up. And it’s +48, what kind of bug is that?! Will it keep increasing in the future? Oh no.

“I’m strong…”

“MAG increases add up to a maximum of 50% of the base value to STR and AGI. You achieve this by wearing flashy equipment. After that, well, I want high-performance accessories as well…”

“It’s already high-performance. What’s happening here… And what about this Magic Shield Aegis? What is PP?”

It really has insane performance. It’s no wonder it’s a hidden class in a hidden event… But more than that, I’m really curious about this unique point system, 【PP】. Given that Dark Princess skills seem to consume PP, is it an abbreviation for Princess Points, perhaps…?

“It’s Princess Points! It regenerates every 120 seconds now! Aegis? Oh, that one seems to have improved somehow. Why is that?”

“Once every 2 minutes for regeneration…”

So it is Princess Points! I wonder if regeneration every 120 seconds is fast or slow…

“Aegis!!! Oh, it’s here. It seems like a barrier? And it has ‘Perforate 1′ displayed.”

“Perforate, that means… pierce, breakthrough? Maybe it means the barrier will block attacks only once?”

“I see. Since it doesn’t go off with time, maybe you should use it as soon as it’s used?”

“It also adds to the accumulating PP consumption, which is good, right?”

“Yes, let’s go with that!”

Now, is this Magic Shield Aegis strong or weak? It only has Penetrate 1, but could it serve as a substitute for Pers-chan’s shield since she can’t wield one?

“Oh, another Giant Frog!”

“I’ll take the lead. If it hits you, use Hyper Slash.”

“Got it!”

◆ ◆ ◆

“…Your level has increased to 20! Congratulations!”

“…………Perforate, Curse Spear.”

“Unleash! Hyper Slash!”

“Giant Frog (Lv.22) defeated. Experience gained: 2,220.”

“Perseus has reached level 20. Congratulations!”

“Wauwau.”

“Wau. Wauwau.”

“Wau.”

“Wauuuu!”

“Wau.”

“Wau.”

“……….(Knocking)”

After the customary celebratory wauwau chants upon leveling up, both reached level 20 in just over 2 hours from the start. It’s likely a game where leveling up is relatively easy.

Oh, and regarding the damage and defeat logs, I’ll be making some adjustments moving forward. I figured out a better way to display them. I’ve also configured the game to show red HP gauges above the monsters’ heads. These appear when their HP drops below a certain level, making it easier for us to estimate how much health they have left.

For when I want a more detailed damage display, I’ve created a separate battle log. When I’m curious, I can give it a look. It was a bit confusing until Pers-chan explained it to me, so having this option is quite handy. This flexibility in customization might be one of the charms of this game.

“But seriously, isn’t Aegis too convenient…?”

“Yes, it is! Aegis completely blocks all damage except for direct hits. Even for direct hits, there’s knockback immunity until the Penetrate Shield breaks. It’s incredibly strong! It stops surprise long-range attacks completely!”

“That’s powerful… But it might be just the right trade-off for not being able to equip weapons or shields.”

“Well, indeed. Not being able to equip weapons and shields means I can’t use the Executioner’s Axe +12 I was using before…”

When Pers-chan activates her Magic Shield Aegis, a faint reddish-black aura surrounds her. As long as she avoids direct hits, she takes no damage at all. Both long-range attacks and magic are nullified. The magic nullification was confirmed with my Cursed Spear. We also tried Donta’s front paw taps, the [Two-Stage Palm], and it had the first hit nullified, but the second hit landed. It seems to be weak against consecutive direct attacks, so we need to be careful.

On the surface, it might seem like an incredibly overpowered skill, but she can’t use any weapons other than the magic sword, and she can’t equip a shield. So, it balances out… or does it? It feels kind of broken, actually. In practice, the Giant Frog’s acid spitting disappeared upon touching the aura, allowing her to start close-range combat in a perfect state. Moreover, she can use this skill up to five times. Since PP management skills have no cooldown, she can use it in quick succession, and Aegis is activated with 1 PP, allowing five consecutive uses. If she endures for 2 minutes, she can use it for the sixth time. It’s just too strong.

“By the way, what’s the plus value on equipment?”

“It’s the enhancement value. You can safely enhance anything other than weapons up to +4, and from there, if you fail without a protection ticket, you lose the equipment. Weapons have different safe enhancement values depending on the weapon rank. The lowest is the Legendary class, which only has a safe zone up to +4. You can go to the city and ask the blacksmith or use the Guild House’s enhancement machine, putting in materials and praying.”

“It sounds risky. And, +12…”

“The Executioner’s Axe is unique, and it’s safe up to +5. I’ve spent a lot on it, leveling it up seven times.”

“…You say it just like that, but isn’t that equipment extraordinary?”

“Yes, it’s quite impressive. It might be sold for a huge amount, but I haven’t thought about selling it to anyone. I wouldn’t want to lose in PvP against someone with a weapon I sold.”

“I see…”

Heavy spenders do have some incredible considerations. If it were me, I’d definitely sell high-value equipment I can’t use anymore.

“Wau? (Did the wet sounds stop?)”

“Oh, it looks like we’re about to leave the wetlands.”

“We completely skipped Jeed City. Which direction was it?”

“It’s that way. On the east side of the marshes, but it’s very similar to Tarlash, there’s nothing particularly interesting to see.”

“I see. Well, I’m thinking it might be time for me to get some equipment too.”

“When we get to the trade city, Lorelei, let’s buy everything we need! It’s a city where players can set up a free market, and most importantly, it’s our home! You can shop with confidence!”

“…Is it possible that you attract too much attention, making it difficult to shop casually, Pers-chan?”

“Ohhh? N-no, that’s not the case at all!!! Not at all!!!”

“Alright then, let’s head to Lorelei, where we can shop without any worries.”

“…That’s right, well, there’s also an official auction function, but there are many items with high prices, so I don’t really recommend it.”

“I see…”

Yeah, I get it. It might be challenging for Pers-chan to shop outside her home since she’s famous. That must be tough… She doesn’t recommend the auction because the prices are high. Got it, got it…

“Wauu!! (It’s tough! Hard!)”

“…From around here, the ground becomes a hard layer mixed with sandstone and gravel. Lorelei is a trade city with a port. This area is close to the sea, and it’s said that it used to be the sea around here.”

“Isn’t the setting too detailed? It’s incredibly well-crafted, really.”

“Indeed, each NPC has its own data, and they remember who talked to them. The level of detail is astounding, and the amount of data is not ordinary. By the way, if you change channels, the time of day changes slightly. Since I usually play at night, I don’t want the map to always be at night, so I can shift the time. NPCs and monsters also move to different locations accordingly!”

“Wow… It’s truly an incredible game. VR dive devices are already quite high-tech, and playing an open-world game with such a vast amount of data seamlessly is truly impressive.”

“You can enjoy the progress of technology! It’s so much fun!”
Certainly, it’s delightful to see Pers-chan enjoying herself. Moving forward, as the terrain becomes more rocky, it indicates that we’re saying goodbye to the region of those enormous frogs. The types of monsters will probably change, and I’m already looking forward to it.

【Magic Shield Aegis】

A magical shield that can be used by the Dark Princess class. Despite its classification as a shield, its shape deviates from the typical shield design, leaning more towards resembling armor.

When activated, it surrounds the user in a red-black aura, rendering all attacks ineffective except for direct hits. It is assumed that the Perforate value increases with the level, ensuring that no damage gets through unless a direct hit is successfully executed. Furthermore, it maintains a Hyper Armor state, preventing any knockback.

At first glance, it may seem overpowered, almost like cheating! However, due to the Dark Princess’s inability to equip weapons or shields, she is unable to fortify her defense. Despite possessing such a potent skill, there are genuine concerns about its overall usefulness. Additionally, as the bracelet is a fixed piece of equipment with irremovable resistances, her defense crumbles instantly once Aegis effect is removed.