Golden Experience

Chapter 114: Sugoroku

“Welcome back. I don’t think that there are any more players within visible range.

What were you up to?”

While Blanc was checking social media, it seemed that all the invading players had been repelled.

Initially, when the details of the event were announced, Blanc, being a player on the side of monsters, had thought she would only be participating as an invader.

Indeed, she had successfully taken over the city as invaders, but this had led to a reversal of roles, allowing her to enjoy being on the defensive side as well.

“I’m back! I was just bored with nothing to do.

So instead of idling around, I thought I’d check the forums. Also, I was also watching how the xp was being distributed between you and me.

It only decreased the amount I got when Rare-chan did something. About half, I think.”

There were some players who seemed formidable in terms of stats, so I tried to only lightly interfere with them under the pretext of ‘self-sabotage.’ However, even just that results in a 50/50 split, huh? I need to be more careful.”

Blanc felt a bit awkward as she was being thanked, considering it was originally Magenta’s proposal.

“Oh, and about that thing on the forums.

Someone apparently made a Sugoroku board? Isn’t that amazing?”

“Sugoroku? Like the board game? Who made it? Did they create and sell it in game? Does it sell well? Also, is there even a die?”

“A die? Is that relevant?”

The conversation seemed a bit disjointed. There seemed to be a difference in their understanding.

Judging by Rare’s reaction, it appeared that a Sugoroku board existed in reality, and that’s what she was talking about.

“Well, someone made a simple map that roughly shows the relationship between the cities on this continent.

It’s like Sugoroku board, or so I heard.”

“Oh, I see.

That’s a bit confusing… But I think I get it; someone actually made that. If you combine information from the transfer service about adjacent cities’ names and integrate it with forum comments, it’s possible to create something like that.

That’s amazing. Can anyone see it?”

“I think so.

The threads I was looking at were—”

Rare switched her focus to checking forum threads after Blanc gave her the information.

Meanwhile, Blanc decided to check how much xp she gained from the recent battle and look at her skill tree.

“I might not go for everything, but it seems like I can get the strengthening-type skills. To start, I definitely have to take [Summon]; I’ll use it quite a bit.

Um, there’s also [Spatial Magic], right? Oh, mental abilities also seem feasible. It looks like I can also get [Summon Caster: Mind], but what was that again?”

“[Summon Caster: Mind] is a skill that allows the manipulation of the familiar’s body remotely.

I believe ‘Summon’ refers to having your own self summoned to the side of the familiar.”

“Oh, I see.

That sounds convenient. Let’s just go for everything we just looked at.”

“Huh?”

“Are you sure? What about things like growing wings… and our [Dark Magic] and—”

“Oh!”

Blanc had forgotten they had talked about that before. But it was too late now since she already spent her xp.

Moreover, thinking rationally, even if she could borrow the vision of my subordinates, Blanc has no underlings capable of flying to conduct reconnaissance. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to get these skills right now.

Most of the xp obtained from capturing cities had been left as they were because I couldn’t think of a use for them… Additionally, obtaining these skills required spending the xp she had just gained from the recent battle, making it a considerably large purchase. Getting back that amount of xp will take considerable effort.

“Well, I can’t really do anything about it now. [Dark magic] isn’t that expensive, so I’m sure I’ll be able to get it pretty easily.

As for the wings… I won’t know if they’re useful unless I ask Raerae anyway, so I won’t get them yet… More importantly, what I need now is a subordinate capable of aerial reconnaissance.”

“Is there anyone suitable?”

“If I use [Subordinate] extending from the vampire-related skill tree, it’ll turn into a zombie.

So, even if I kill and revive them with [necromancy] before using [Subordinate], they’ll still become zombies… So do you think it would be fine to just catch birds without worrying about killing them or keeping them alive?”

“I don’t think all of them will turn into zombies. For bats and wolves, which seem to be related to vampires, you can probably use [Subordinate] while they’re still alive.

Also, can’t you guys’ fly?”

This is clear from what happened when Blanc first made Azalea and the other Mormos. And maybe by giving blood to such a race that can be affiliated with vampires while still alive, it would be possible to reincarnate into a subspecies of vampire.

“We can fly… However, flying long distances like Rare-sama’s subordinates for reconnaissance is impossible. Even for reconnaissance in the city, it’s challenging to rise high enough for wide-ranging search.”

“But on the flip side, we can enter narrow or dark places.”

That could be useful, but since they currently controlled all the undead throughout the city, there was little point in doing so.

“…If I think about it, the only option for a living creature capable of flying that I can turn into a subordinate without turning it into a zombie is probably a bat…”

“Thanks for waiting. And thanks for telling me about those threads.

I’ve learned a lot.”

It seemed Rare had returned to the game from reality.” That’s great! I didn’t even know who this Sugoroku-san was.”

“Sugoroku isn’t a person’s name.

It’s an old board game, like a simplified version of backgammon for children.”

“Back…?”

“Never mind if you don’t know.

More importantly, there was an interesting post in that thread.”

Given Rare’s occasional interest in peculiar things, it was unclear what exactly had caught her attention in that particular thread.

“It was about the city of Oral, called Hugelcup. The knight from that city seemed to already know that Hiers had been destroyed.”

“Oh, I think I saw something about that. What’s the matter?”

“Hiers was destroyed on the evening of the third day, meaning yesterday.

However, this was a destruction recognized by the Devs. It’s uncertain how the local NPCs learned about it.

Even if the NPCs simply assumed the destruction of Hiers from the capital’s collapse, the destruction of the capital happened on the night of the second day, which is two days ago. Isn’t it strange that they already knew about it even though it happened just two days ago?”

“That’s one thing, but there’s another issue.

The Hiers’ prime minister had sent the king into exile in other countries. For this exile to succeed, it was crucial that the nobility in other countries knew that the Hiers royal family was alive.

If a royal family member who is supposed to be dead appeared and expressed a desire to exile, it wouldn’t go smoothly. So, if the prime minister informed the surrounding nations about the destruction of the capital and the exile of the royal family, it wouldn’t be surprising.”

“However, in the story told by a player named Justice, it wasn’t about the destruction of the capital but the total annihilation of the country. Being a knight, they probably have connections with the nobility, and it’s clearly odd that they knew this at the same time as the official update.”

“Hmm? What if, as this MentaiList person is saying, there were announcements to some NPCs about it?”

“If that’s the case, other city knights should also know. I was curious, so I peeked into other threads that seemed related, but I only found this player’s post.

Well, it’s difficult to search for NPC-related posts because players would know more about the destruction of Hiers. But it seems the verification team didn’t know either, so we can probably assume there was no information elsewhere.”

Wow, she found so much in that short amount of time. Maybe there’s a knack to it.

I’ll ask her about it later, along with the wing matter.

For now, she’s explaining things so enthusiastically, it’s probably better not to interrupt.

With the information we have here, there’s one other possibility. This player could have intentionally spread false information.”

“Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, but I think that the probability is low. If that were the case, they would probably make similar statements in other threads, or maybe gather collaborators and post together.”

“Maybe… And it really doesn’t make sense why they would do that.”

“True.

The motive is entirely unclear. So, I think we can ignore this.”

Azelia and the others seem to be going on a patrol around the city. They seem bored.

Although they were initially here to guard Blanc, as long as Rare is here, the safety of the balcony can be considered guaranteed.

“If that’s the case, the next possibility is that these knights, by killing all the intended Hiers royal family members, knew in advance that the Hiers kingdom had perished.”

“I get it! …But why would they tell players about it?”

“That I don’t know… Also, I have no idea what this Justise player’s position in this city, and maybe they have a close relationship with the knights.”

“Close relationship! Eh, do players and NPCs have that?”

“Eh?”

Blanc stared at Rare with a puzzled expression.

It seemed like she genuinely didn’t understand.

“Well, whatever.

By ‘close relationship,’ I mean, for example, this player Justice wanting knight-type skills or wanting to become a follower of someone and approaching the knight for a connection with the nobility.”

“A business-like relationship, huh… like a dream…”

“Dream?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Rare looked a bit puzzled for a moment, but she quickly returned to the conversation with a gesture that seemed like she was used to it.

“Anyway, I’m actually searching for the whereabouts of those Hiers royal family members.”

“Oh, really? Is it because you’re a perfectionist? Missing some feels uncomfortable or something?”

“No, it’s more practical… I just need those items they ran off with. It doesn’t matter either way.

I don’t know where they went after the exile, and it’s dangerous to just intrude into another country without notice. I was wondering what to do until this information came up.”

That’s probably why her excitement level is so high.

“Hmm… But isn’t it suspicious?”

“It would be a lie to say it’s not suspicious, but I highly doubt that someone will suspect me—the calamity event boss—is monitoring social media.

There’s a lot to consider, but it might be good to check. Even if it’s a trap, if it’s not aimed at me, then confirming it once and crushing it if it’s a trap for someone else could be the right move.

And if it’s not a trap, it could be new information.”

What she’s saying makes sense, but even if it’s not aimed at Leah, if it’s a trap, the other party should have adequate preparation.

Moreover, if it’s a trap, it’s extremely unnatural for a single player to make just one statement on SNS. It wouldn’t be a trap intended for players who check social media.

It’s more like a gamble.

Blanc can’t explain it well, but there’s an indescribable sense of unease.

However, with such a subjective persuasion, Rare won’t be stopped. After all, she seems to be having a lot of fun.

“It seems very suspicious, but… I can’t quite put it into words.”

“Hmm… If you say so much, Blanc, do you want to come along?”

“I’m coming!”

Rare is much stronger, but there’s a part of her that makes me worry when watching.

It feels like she’s inexperienced.

Probably, from the real world’s perspective, such a person would be called a klutz.

That would be very rude, so I’ll never say it to her.

So far, Rare has been giving, and Blanc has been receiving.

If she can repay even a little by serving as a guard, it would be appreciated.

“Oh, but I can’t fly.

What should I do?”

“Oh, speaking of which, um, could you tell me how to grow wings or something?”

“If you do that, you might get the ‘Flight’ skill. Well then, can you tell me what skills you can get right now? Oh, and this information is extremely important, so you really shouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t! What do you take me for!”

After that, I found a skill that seemed to grow wings but didn’t have enough experience points. So, I stayed in this city for another day, killed a player who appeared the next day, and earned enough.

I was able to grow wings. As expected, they were bat wings.

“Leaving now is fine, but there’s a high possibility that players will come to play after tomorrow. Anyway, let’s… yes, let’s summon one of the armored queen ants that are playing around in Liebe and conduct a practical test.

Blanc, is that okay?”

“It’s okay! Thanks for being considerate!”

And so, accompanied by Rare, they flew to the city called Hugel Cup.

It seemed like Rare had been told something by Dias, but she managed to persuade him to go on a two-girl journey with her friend.

It was the halfway point, five days since the event started.

TL notes:

Sorry i haven’t been very consistent with my translations like I said I would.

I have been busy with finals coming up. I don’t have time for a chapter this friday but I will go back to posting every week next week on the 26th.

Thank you for your patience.

Again, Thanks for reading, and please let me know of any mistakes in the comments.