Chapter 104 Vice President Sogahara Party vs Owl Bear
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Tsuchimiya-kun, are you okay? You look kinda tired.”
Sogahara-senpai leans in, looking worried at my face.
”Yeah, I’m fine. Just pushed myself a bit too hard at morning practice.”
”Well, that’s good to hear…”
The truth is, I’m running on little sleep and mental exhaustion.
Last night… well, let’s just say I had quite an ordeal.
My beastly instincts got totally wrecked and were gasping for breath.
If this keeps up, I might end up becoming a full-on masochist, which sounds pretty bad.
Hano-san was also yawning while chatting with everyone at Sogahara-senpai’s party.
Himeno seemed to be having a blast, happily chatting away with the group.
”Asagiri-san was actually pretty easy to talk to.”
”Right? I thought she’d be way scarier and super strong.”
”Sorry! I was really nervous yesterday, so I didn’t get to talk much.”
The awkward vibe I noticed yesterday might have been because high-communication Himeno was keeping a distance from everyone.
I’m just a total introvert who struggles with socializing and totally missed it.
Kanon, who’s shy, is getting along well, surrounded by everyone.
Njorn seems to be a great communication tool for Kanon, too.
”Kijima-senpai, here you go.”
”Hehe, thanks, Tsuchimiya-kun!”
I hand back the smartphone with communication features to Kijima-senpai.
”I want one, too! Will you give us one someday?”
Kanami-san is looking at Kijima-senpai’s smartphone with envy.
”I’ll try to get it to you as soon as possible. If it’s for Sogahara-senpai’s party, it should be a high priority.”
”Yay! I’m looking forward to it!”
That’s up to Higurashi’s discretion, but I can’t just scatter them around easily.
Still, it’s only natural to want to help out acquaintances when you can.
”Alright, let’s get moving. Tsuchimiya-kun, I’m counting on you.”
”Yes, leave it to me!”
We wrapped up the “meeting,” which was really just a chat, and headed deeper into the 3E West Area.
With our makeshift party-nano, it’s pretty important to keep the communication flowing like this.
From what I can see, everyone in the party-nano gets along great.
Kanon was totally freaked out by yesterday’s events, but somehow, she’s actually gained some respect.
”Those guys from yesterday haven’t shown up at all, huh?”
”According to Secretary Tsukuba-kun’s report, Tsudagawa-kun set up a checkpoint starting at 8 AM yesterday. Apparently, he’s getting up early today and starting at 7 AM.”
”Seriously, are they messing with us?”
We still have over an hour to spare.
They might think they’re being hardcore, getting up early like that.
Just like yesterday, we let Himeno clear the way, and we advanced deeper and deeper.
The number of Monsters was back to normal, but when I told Himeno where they were, she’d take them out in a flash, and we barely even saw them.
As a result, we passed yesterday’s stopping point in about 30 minutes.
We took short breaks to open treasure chests dropped by Monsters and consider our path, pushing further in.
And then, we reached the boss room at the 1500-meter mark.
”It’s not even 7 AM yet… We’re so lucky Tsuchimiya-kun and the others came with us.”
”Glad we could help!”
”By the way, Asagiri-kun, how many Monsters did you take down today?”
”Hmm, maybe around 50?”
”WHOA! Himecchi, WHOA!”
Hano-san and Sogahara-senpai are totally shocked.
Even packs of about ten, she wiped them out in like a minute.
The Monsters on the 3rd floor aren’t even a challenge for Himeno.
”So, I wanted to ask… Could you guys let us handle the floor boss? We haven’t had a chance to shine, and we want to get a feel for it ourselves since we’ll be fighting with Support in the future.”
”No problem. I think Sogahara-senpai and the others can handle it.”
I have no idea how strong a normal Owlbear is since Himeno took it down so easily, but I don’t think it’s tough enough to give Sogahara-senpai and the others a hard time.
Katsura-kun, who had been giving Sogahara-senpai a sideways glance, finally spoke up.
”Sogahara-senpai, you seem super pumped, but please don’t take it out by yourself. I want to see the attack patterns and your reaction speed too!”
”Huh? But we’re in a hurry, and if I can finish it in one shot, isn’t that good enough?”
It looked like Sogahara-senpai was inspired by Himeno.
Saegusa-senpai, who’d been watching, chimed in with a tone of disbelief.
”That totally defeats the purpose of letting you take it down. First, Keita and I will battle it, so Sogahara-kun, you’ll be on rearguard duty. Don’t step forward until you get a signal from Shiori!”
”No way…”
Sogahara-senpai drooped his shoulders like a kid who just lost their favorite toy.
After that, we lined up, and when Saegusa-senpai placed her hand on the double doors, she glanced back.
”Sogahara-kun, about this, is it okay if I tell Tsuchimiya-kun and the others?”
Saegusa-senpai pointed at some letters or patterns drawn on the door’s surface.
”Oh, it’s a limit on the number of people, huh? That’s fine. Once I’ve confirmed a few more details, I plan to announce it soon.”
”A limit on the number of people?”
What are they talking about?
”Actually, there’s a limit on how many can enter the boss room.”
”Wait, really?”
Saegusa-senpai explained to me with a smug look while pointing at the door’s designs.
”See, there are patterns like the ‘1’ on a die, right?”
There were indeed 4 tiny shapes that looked like the number one on a die, and lastly, one shape that looked like ‘ロ’ without the circle in the middle.
”This seems to represent numbers from one to 5 based on the number of strokes, like the kanji for ‘correct’. So, with 4 5s and one 4, it adds up to 24.”
”So, does that mean only 24 people can enter this room?”
”Yeah, if you try to go in with more people than allowed, it’s like an invisible wall pushes you back. But when the boss is defeated and the door opens, there’s no limit then.”
”There were some students who tried to take on the second floor boss with a big group, but they got pushed back halfway. I figured it out while investigating after getting the report.”
”You noticed that, huh? Good job.”
The door was covered in all sorts of patterns and weird languages, something you wouldn’t notice unless you were told to pay attention.
”Shiori discovered this while we were checking the limit in another room.”
Sogahara-senpai glanced proudly at Kijima-senpai.
”Impressive, as always.”
”I noticed something in the first room but wasn’t sure. When the limits in the second and third rooms matched, I was convinced.”
Kijima-senpai really does have sharp eyes.
In a way, she might be the perfect person to keep an eye on Sogahara-senpai.
”So, there might be rooms with a limit of just one person…”
”So far, the Student Council knows of rooms with limits between 20 and 30 people. But there might be such rooms in the lower floors. Even on the same floor, limits vary by room, but we haven’t found any differences in the floor bosses because of that.”
”Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
It’s safer to check the limit before entering a boss room for the first time.
”Alright, let’s get pumped for the boss fight!”
Saegusa-senpai pushed open the door and entered the boss room alongside Katsura-kun.
The rearguard followed, and we stepped in too.
Kijima-senpai quickly used Support magic to boost everyone’s defense.
In the middle of the round room stood an Owl Bear with brown feathers and body hair.
It looked like a bear-ish owl (hawk).
It was about 2 meters 50 centimeters tall and wide, giving off a pretty intimidating vibe.
The Owl Bear stared at us with its big round eyes, slowly spreading its wing-arms.
Katsura-kun and Saegusa-senpai split up, sprinting to close the distance.
And right through the middle of them, Kanami-san’s fireball zipped.
The Owl Bear took the fiery ball head-on, using its left wing-arm as a shield.
The fireball slammed into the wing-arm and exploded, scattering flames everywhere.
But it only singed the feathers a little, so it didn’t seem to do much damage.
Unlike a flare bomb, the explosion damage wasn’t that big of a deal.
Still, it’s a valuable AoE magic for a beginner, making it a total trump card, magic-nano!
As the flames died down, Saegusa-senpai charged in from the direction of the blocked left arm.
The Owl Bear leaped high into the air, a move that defied its huge size, and kicked out with its clawed bird feet.
Saegusa-senpai parried the attack with her sword and was pushed back 5 meters, but she held her ground without losing her balance.
The Owl Bear tried to create some distance by flapping its wing-arms, but Katsura-kun jumped up and slashed its right wing.
”GYEEEEE!”
The Owl Bear let out a cry and plummeted to the ground.
The Owl Bear swung its long, clawed wing-arms at the two, who were trying to close in on it.
They dodged the claws at the very last second, slashing at the wings as they went.
The outer edge of the attack range is the slowest.
It’s actually pretty fast when you see it up close, but they seem to be reading it perfectly.
Cornered, the Owl Bear tucked its arms in, narrowing its attack range.
The speed and rotation increased, but now, you could reach it with a sword if you took a step forward.
When Katsura-kun dodged a swing, the Owl Bear slightly extended its arm to aim for his head.
But Katsura-kun didn’t panic, ducking and matching his sword to the attack, deeply cutting into the Owl Bear’s arm.
”GYOEEEE!”
Saegusa-senpai got in close as the Owl Bear lost its balance, stabbing her sword into its side.
”Aaah!”
For some reason, Sogahara-senpai let out a painful cry.
The Owl Bear tried to bite Saegusa-senpai with its beak, but she had already pulled away.
Katsura-kun tried to go in for the attack, but the Owl Bear was swinging its claws like CRAZY, so he couldn’t get close.
Looked pretty hurt, but this thing is tough!
”Alright, it’s just a scratch! My power isn’t just that! Don’t you dare go down yet!”
Sogahara-senpai is cheering on the Owl Bear, gripping his sword tightly.
”Seriously, Sogahara-kun! You’re being way too obvious about wanting to land the final blow!”
Saegusa-senpai shouted while dodging the Owl Bear’s long claws.
Those attacks should be a real pain, but these guys are seriously strong.
They’re taking on the floor boss together and still have some energy to spare.
Kanami-san and Kijima-senpai are watching calmly.
”I don’t wanna just finish it off! Leave it alive and kicking!”
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply