Golden Experience

Chapter 146: “The 3 Second Rule”

The old capital of Hiers, in the audience room with the throne.

Sitting on the throne, on Yoroizaka’s lap, Rare slowly opened her eyes.

“…Fufu. Feels refreshing.”

That was truly a good feeling.

That elven woman had misunderstood something about Rare, thinking she was magic-focused during the raid. To humor her love for magic, Rare decided to settle things with magic. Now she must be satisfied.

Queen Arachnea, who fought against that elf party, was controlled by Rare. Initially, Rare intended to borrow only her sight and hearing, but watching their battles along the way made her eager, so she insisted on borrowing her entire body. Even if she [Summoned] her entire consciousness into her familiars and seized control, the skills usable in that state were limited to those of the familiars. The magic Queen Arachnea had learned was not particularly powerful, only single and area-targeted attack spells for various attributes. Despite accounting for the increase in stats, it was challenging to match the magic of the elf woman. However, she managed to overwhelm them by skillfully using traps with threads.

It must have been a good learning experience for Queen Arachnea. Growth through actual learning, which cannot reflected in numbers, is invaluable.

Checking the Old Hiers Kingdom conquest thread on social media, the elf player from earlier is already posting. Is she the “Nameless Elf-san” that Rare occasionally sees on social media? What a ridiculous name.

Generally, she cleverly presents her theory that the dungeon is a dynamically adjustable difficulty dungeon, as Rare hoped for. While the management of it is left to the Queens, the plan is to proceed as suggested by “Nameless”. In that regard, her post is not incorrect.

However, there’s a mention that difficulty might cap at maximum for specific challengers, regardless of their level.

Rare’s dungeon territory is progressing smoothly. It’s a fantastic start for the first day.

Though, visitors are only from La Colinne.

“…If it’s around ?4, would visitors come? I can’t compromise on Teur and Liebe, they’re crucial bases… Can the capital’s difficulty be lowered a bit? Is it unnatural for it to be ?4 when I’m here? Maybe it can’t be lowered at all.”

It might not be a problem if Rare is not in the capital.

But in that case, it’s necessary to make players aware of it without directly posting on social media.

All of Rare’s friendships are officially considered NPCs. Each has their own reasons, but they all want to avoid revealing their real names, including Rare. They can’t make direct posts on social media.

If they can’t appeal on social media, they have to appear prominently somewhere as a “calamity”.

And right now, the most prominent place is the dungeon.

So, appearing near the newly established safety area, i.e., the common entrance for players, and conquering that dungeon would be a good choice. It aligns with the main objective, while conquering the dungeon is just a side task.

“Now, the first issue is which dungeon to go to.”

Although it’s called a dungeon, there are no restrictions like only entering and exiting from the entrance, or being in a sealed space inside. Rare is well aware of this, especially in open-field environments like forests or towns. Approaching an area where a boss might be from above is a quick solution.

“In that case, I still want to drop Uluru. It’s flashy.”

No, that’s not it. The goal is not dungeon conquest.

The main purpose is to make an appeal that there’s no calamity in the Old Hiers capital by making Rare stand out. Conquering the dungeon is just a byproduct.

With the list of transfer destinations posted on social media and the maps of Old Hiers and Aural, Rare contemplates. It’s not an attachment to these two countries; it’s just that these are the only maps she has.

Hiers has no distinctive features, or rather, there’s nothing outstanding. It used to be a blessed country with no particular geographical or environmental concerns. Well, it used to be. The land is of average size.

In comparison, Aural’s land is a bit larger. Aural holds the central part of the continent. It’s unclear how this country came to rule the capital of the former unified nation, but as a result, it is adjacent to almost all other countries. However, many of its borders extend into areas controlled by monsters, and due to its large land size, there are more regions with monsters than in Hiers.

The threat level of those regions is also higher, and consequently, there are more skilled knights compared to Hiers.

Currently, Lyra, who has control over most of the knights, seems to be sending the military to conquer areas not listed on the transfer destination mentioned on social media. It’s unclear whether this is part of national governance or for some other reason. The idea seems to be that if the area is not listed on the transfer destination, it can be conquered without players finding out.

The reason for doing such a thing is unknown, but as long as it doesn’t interfere with Rare, she doesn’t care what Lyra is doing.

“If it’s revealed that I and Lyra look alike, we could create a story like we were originally blood relatives or something. If Lyra is the lord of Hugelcup, stirring up trouble in the nearby dungeons might serve as some motivation, right…?”

“If the premise is that milady and Lyra-sama are originally sisters, how about unconsciously seeking the warmth of lost blood relatives?”

It’s Sieg’s suggestion, but Rare felt a frown forming on her forehead even as she listened. While emotionally challenging to accept, it seems to have a certain persuasiveness.

“…If Deas-san were here, he would probably give you a stern look. Another thing to mention is that humans probably perceived the ‘calamity’ that emerged from the Liebe Great Forest and attacked this capital as heading straight west. If that’s the case, making them believe that the original goal was not this capital but the further west Aural territory would give a reason to attack dungeons in that direction.”

Not a bad idea.

Rare had previously told Wayne and company that she acquired the Hiers capital because it looked beautiful. It’s not really a lie, but she hasn’t answered why she moved to a place where the capital could be seen in the first place.

As a player, Rare doesn’t have a significant reason. She tried it because it seemed possible, just that.

However, if she were an NPC, it would be better to have a stronger motive. If the purpose is to go west and, in the process, happened to see the capital and brought it under control, it could provide a certain consistency to the actions of the ‘calamity’.

The main purpose is the journey west itself, although she’s not willing, she could say she temporarily aimed for Lyra’s place.

“…Alright. Let’s go with Sieg’s suggestion. When it comes to dungeons west of the Hiers capital… There’s one before entering Aural territory. It seems there’s a town near it. According to the list, this seems to be a ?1 low-difficulty field, but… If I were an NPC, it would be unnatural to selectively choose places to attack based on difficulty. I’ll just have to crush them in order.”

She could destroy the town as well, but if Rare is going to manage this ?1 area in the future, it’s convenient to have a regular town here. After all, there’s no normal town nearby. Even if she wants to send Kerry and others for undercover operations, there’s nowhere to send them.

Moreover, the town is still thriving even though the country has disappeared. It’s close to Aural, and there’s a chance they’re still trading with Lyra, even indirectly. Even if not directly, there’s a possibility of purchasing Aural products from towns closer to Aural.

While Rare doesn’t care about Lyra’s governance, there’s no need to deliberately interfere.

“The name of this dungeon is [Teur Grassland]. With a town nearby and a low-difficulty grassland, this might be one of the beginner areas for starting players?”

Starting players would earn and build confidence in Teur Grassland, using the city, Rifure, as their base, then spread their wings to other cities.

Once, similar activities were carried out in the Liebe Great Forest and nearby grasslands. That grassland didn’t have a specific name, and now it seems to have been integrated into the Great Forest as an area and not listed on the transfer destination.

The difficulty level, including Liebe Great Forest, was suitable for beginners, but now it has turned into a dangerous area.

Conquering another beginner field might feel somewhat uncomfortable.

However, thinking about it, can the “Hiers Kingdom” still be chosen as the initial spawn point?

Since the name of the “Hiers Kingdom” has disappeared from the official site’s country introduction, it’s highly likely that it cannot be chosen.

If players who have been playing the game before this event know, they should be aware that the power balance on the continent went crazy from the third day of the second event. During that event, incidents occurred in all countries except for a country called Portree.

Needless to say, the most chaotic was the Hiers Kingdom. Players no longer have sweet expectations for the beginner field in Hiers.

Players who unfortunately flew to this dungeon after the implementation of the transfer service might exist, but if they deliberately chose to fly to the dungeon listed as [Other], it’s their responsibility.

Even though Rare says it, it’s an extremely obvious country with a raid boss. They’re at fault for coming.

For Rare, the main objective is to stand out in a place away from the capital. She doesn’t plan to stay in the grassland forever, and once her business is done, she intends to leave the management of it to a weak familiar and return it to ?1. Even if she temporarily trampled on it, there shouldn’t be any complaints if she returns it to what it was. She’s heard about a tradition called the “three-second rule” from a long time ago. If it’s just for an instant, it might be considered ‘safe’.