Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 104

The Burning World of Lust

The World of Lust.

The demon’s gigantic upper body protruded out from the castle at its centre.

That was the last boss for clearing this battle.

The approaching clearing group’s players were defeated one after another despite the boss staying unmoving there.

The magicians who were staying at the distance got surrounded by the  monsters that were directed by the boss. They couldn’t attack properly  because of the interference.

Facing such boss that was different from their assumption, the  clearing group gave up trying to defeat it and collected data before  going back.

But, the clearing battle still wasn’t over.

(Stoppppp!)

Ponsuke’s avatar went out of control and its ominous appearance grew huge. It then flew to the sky and assaulted the boss.

His current appearance made it unclear which one of them was the boss here.

Both sides had appearance that was modelled after demon.

The boss’s black arm stretched toward Ponsuke.

Then Ponsuke’s avatar opened its mouth wide and breathed out flame.

The boss’s black arm was enveloped in flame.

The boss showed the mannerism of feeling pain. Ponsuke couldn’t hide his confusion seeing that.

(Why is a boss that the clearing group can’t defeat acting like this just from me alone……this is absolutely a bug!)

It was difficult for a single player to make a big splash in online game.

In the first place the game was created with the premise of fighting the enemies with multiple players in combat.

If just a single player could defeat a boss, there was no need to make the game an online game in the first place.

Even if it was possible by some chance, players with the same job and skill would only increase after that.

It was extremely difficult to do something big with just a single player.

Furthermore, this was a big stage called city assault battle.

It was strange for Ponsuke to be able to fight alone.

(I can’t even contact anyone else. At this rate I’ll really get designated as malicious player!)

A malicious player who used cheat.

It would be only natural for him to be thought as someone like that in the current situation.

Fortunately there were only mostly acquaintances around here currently.

Ponsuke wanted to run away quickly from this place and destroyed his avatar.

He had attachment to it, but he was strongly aware that this avatar was dangerous.

Ponsuke’s rampaging avatar swung down its sinister great sword to the boss.

It hit the boss’s head and a critical hit sign appeared. The amount of damage was absurd.

The avatar held the great sword in one hand and kept landing down blows on the boss, holding it back.

The scene was like a battle between fellow bosses.

(Something like this isn’t a game. Enough──alreadyyyyy!)

Ponsuke kept trying to regain the control and get away from the  battle, but this time it was the boss who grabbed Ponsuke’s arm and  wouldn’t let go.

The boss slammed him on the ground, over and over while also swinging down its fist on him.

It was as though it was flying into rage.

(That’s right. If I just let myself get defeated like this)

The skill’s effect would also vanish if he was defeated.

Something like death penalty didn’t matter at this occasion. Ponsuke  wanted this battle to be over quickly and held on the faint hope that he  would run out of HP just like this.

However, the situation wasn’t that lenient.

The avatar grabbed the boss’s descending fist, and then it bit the arm and tore it off.

The boss shrieked in pain. The avatar’s mouth spread into a wide grin hearing that.

It was as though it was laughing.

(I need to use the forced logout if it’s like this……wait, it also doesn’t work!)

At this rate Ponsuke would defeat the boss by himself.

The out of control avatar created multiple large fire balls around itself.

Those fire balls flew toward the boss one after another and caused great explosions.

(It’s unclear which one is the boss like this!)

The boss was blown away, but it was still alive despite its ragged state.

It still had HP remaining but, it was almost running out.

(Why is this……something like this isn’t fun at all!)

As though in respond to Ponsuke’s scream, the items called “Kind Heart” appeared.

The five stones that he had gathered until now emitted strong light.

Then the avatar suddenly stopped and it emitted a lot of smoke.

The body shrunk and an orc wearing only a loincloth appeared from there.

It was Ponsuke.

「I-it finally return back to normal.」

However the boss was still alive and it turned its focus toward Ponsuke even while its body was trembling.

It wanted to finish off Ponsuke in its dying state.

「……Just, do whatever you want.」

Ponsuke had lost all his motivation. He only waited for the enemy to finish him off.

In the first place he couldn’t even move properly because of the post-Berserk demerit.

Furthermore his level had also gone back to 1.

It was pointless for him to resist right now.

It was while Ponsuke was in a state of resignation like that, Mariela came running and carried him off his her arms.

「Ponsuke, you’re safe!」

「Mariela? Why are you here?」

Mariela leaped from rooftop to rooftop while carrying Ponsuke. Magic  surged toward the spots that the two had just passed and exploded one  fter another.

Mariela wasn’t the only one who climbed on the roof. Alfie was also there with her rifle, pulling its trigger toward the boss.

「It only has few remaining HP, but as expected it won’t die with just this.」

Its remaining small HP couldn’t be emptied with just one player attacking it.

「You two, let’s just get away from this place. This kind of clearing battle is wrong. It should be more fair and square──」

While Ponsuke was saying such thing, his comrades had already taken position and started attacking the boss.

Magic rained down on the boss. Cannons that were installed inside the city fired cannon balls without pause.

「──Oiiii! What are you guys doingggg!」

The other guild members ignored Ponsuke’s wish to run away and grasped the chance to defeat the boss with both hands.

「Advanceeeeeee!」

They would be able to clear the city assault battle with just themselves.

Lighter screamed his orders with such thought.

Not only that.

「Everyone, give it your all. Ignore defending and blast it with your maximum firepower!」

Blaze was also in high spirits.

The surrounding couldn’t stop moving anymore no matter how much Ponsuke screamed at them to stop.

Ponsuke fell on his knees powerlessly. Sololy who was normally a solo player approached him at that timing.

His voice sounded really delighted.

「You did it, Ponsuke-kun. We can become one of the guilds that accomplished a clearing battle with this.」

Mariela used up her paid items and nocked golden arrow on her bow. Alfie too loaded paid bullets into her rifle.

The two were absorbed with beating the boss──or rather.

「I’ll kill you for beating up Ponsuke.」

「I’ll turn you into beehive!」

It seemed their desire of revenge for beating up their friend was stronger.

The members of Ponsuke’s guild used up all the items they had  prepared for the clearing battle and launched their attacks on the boss.

「Everyone stop! It will be bad if we defeat the boss here! Let’s run away. That will be better for us!」

The surrounding ignored Ponsuke’s yelling and didn’t stop.

Sololy tilted his head.

「Eh, why? If we can defeat the boss then it’s better to defeat it.」

「No, it’s pointless even if we defeat it with this kind of cowardly way, I think.」

Ponsuke’s conscience as a player was telling him that this was no good.

Sololy laughed.

「It’s not like we’re doing anything illegal so it’s fine to not  bother about such thing. Then you should just think like this. It’s the  dev’s fault for leaving behind that kind of bug.」

(Certainly it’s just like he said but……e-eh?)

Ponsuke felt a discomfort there.

He didn’t remember ever telling Sololy about how his avatar went out of control.

Only Mariela and Alfie knew about Ponsuke being able to transform like that.

Sure there were also other players who had heard the story, but was  it something that could be differentiated from cheat code in a glance?

(……Well, we have known each other for quite long, so perhaps he’s trusting me that I’ll never use cheat like that?)

Sololy judged that it wasn’t a cheat or anything based on Ponsuke’s personality.

Ponsuke decided to think about it like that for now.

After a short while, the boss emitted black smoke and started vanishing.

The guild members cheered.

The city assault battle……the guild with number one achievement was “Ponsuke and His Happy-Go-Lucky Friends”.

The next name listed was Rook’s Silver Wing. Below them were the names of the clearing guilds.

Ponsuke was dumbfounded.

「……This is, absolutely going to be problem later on.」

Their first time clearing battle ended with a completely shaky situation.

After that a lot of messages immediately reached Ponsuke.

◇

Inside an abandoned uilding.

There was a room there that been touched up slightly. Waking up inside there was Pandora’s former executive.

He took off his headset, then a man entered inside the room.

「Knock before entering at least.」

The man was wearing a suit slovenly. He took off his sunglasses and smiled a little.

「You wake up really late. We logged out at the same time you know?」

The former executive glared at the man with hitman-like atmosphere.

「I need them to bite at the dummy information for login. Doing logout is also not that simple.」

The man was a detective.

Furthermore he was brilliant in his job. He was even considered as a legend by some.

This man had accomplished any requests made to him until now.

The former executive expressed his impression to that man.

「……Are you guys always like that? I can’t believe how winner like you guys all do that kind of thing.」

The detective sat on a chair and looked up to the ceiling.

「We aren’t winner. Someone like me is just an insignificant  jack-of-all-trades. Even I don’t know how the hell a jack-of-all-trades  can earn that much. What’s more by myself……let’s get back on topic.」

It was pointless to continue that kind of story.

Thinking so, the former executive talked about the game called Pandora.

There was no way they could have that kind of important talk when there was only this detective here.

「Pandora is modelled after Greek mythology’s Pandora.」

The detective nodded.

「That myth about releasing calamities with the hope being the last  thing left behind huh. Well, seven deadly sins doesn’t come from Greek  mythology though.」

The former executive shook his head.

「That’s a mistake in the first place.」

「Is that not the case?」

The former executive picked up a drink that was left near the bed and caressed his stubble.

He thought that he wanted to shave soon while continuing to talk.

「Nobody ever said that there are only seven worlds. Besides, if there  are seven worlds then the game should be over with the World of Lust.  No, it would be over even before that.」

「No, this isn’t the end right? There is still Rage remaining for the last.」

All the liberated worlds were named after the seven deadly sins.

In that case, there should be one more world.

「Wrong. From the start the game is modelled after Greek mythology’s Pandora. What came out were calamities, not sins.」

「……Now that you mentioned it, that’s certainly true. Then, why are the worlds using seven deadly sins as their name?」

The former executive’s gaze avoided the detective’s gaze.

「……There was an adult circumstance.」

「I see. Then it can’t be helped.」

Rather than names like epidemic or hunger, the names from seven  deadly sins sounded far cooler. That was the decision of the management.

It was truly an adult circumstance.

「Getting back on topic, in the first place the management planned for nine worlds.」

「Nine? ……But based on the seven deadly sins, there is only the rage  remaining though? Are there still two more worlds waiting ahead?」

「That’s not it. In the first place, the players are already coming and going from the two worlds.」

The detective noticed when he heard that there were two more worlds.

「One of those worlds is the start line. The Capital of Hope huh.」

The former executive nodded.

「That’s right. The Capital of Hope is also a world. And then the other worlds is──」

.

.

.

Real world.

Akito opened his eyes and picked up his smartphone. He watched the news column.

As expected Pandora-related news was at the top spot there.

When he opened the page, it was written that the World of Lust was liberated.

And then there was the name Ponsuke and His Happy-Go-Lucky Friends listed as the guild that played the major part.

「……Normally I should be happy but, I honestly can’t feel anything like that.」

Their guild was a bit famous as a joke guild, but the news of such  guild playing a major part in capturing a city naturally became a hot  topic.

A part of the comments were already hurling vitriols at them as malicious players using cheat.

After all the capture happened after the clearing group had given up and retreated.

It made people wanted to suspect.

Naturally Akito too had expected this.

「I already contacted the dev, and they said that it’s alright but……well, whatever.」

It wasn’t like he used any cheat.

But, Akito had resolved himself to be called as cheater.

If he was a third party, he would also definitely call someone in his position as cheater.

「In the worst case, I’ll have to disband the guild. Though it might be good timing because I’m going to remake my avatar too.」

He couldn’t continue using an avatar that ran out of control like that.

Akito gave up on using orc anymore and decided to create other avatar.

「……What kind of avatar should I make next. Guess I’ll try discussing it with everyone later.」

He didn’t really know much about other race because he kept using orc all this time.

Then he could just ask other players directly. Akito thought about consulting with others inside the game about this.

「No, wait. I can just discuss it IRL. Like with Riku……there are also president and senpai.」

Akito thought about the people who he also knew in real life while getting up from the bed.

He turned on his computer monitor before going right away toward the washroom. Because of that he missed a news.

『Pandora’s Box Garden’s World of Lust is liberated today!』

『Wow~, it happened really fast this time huh. I thought that it would take whole summer break for that.』

『Let’s take time later to talk about that──』

Akito missed seeing how a topic about Pandora was getting mentioned first in a normal news program.

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