"Player: Skuna confirmed dead.
"Confirmed respawn point-- you are being transferred to the city of beginnings.
You are now level 21 with a six-hour penalty.
Please see the help section for more information on penalties.

　The next thing you know, you're standing in the same meadow you were in when you initially set up the game, and you hear a series of announcements.
　The moment I heard all of them, I was sent to the fountain plaza of the City of Beginnings with the same feeling I had when I initially set up.


'Ahhhh...... didn't turn out to be a complete victory....... Phew ......'

　From silence to noise. Not having the energy to stand, I sat down on the helicopter of the fountain and exhaled.

　A feeling of satisfaction and contentment filled my body.
　It was one of the five most pleasant experiences of my life.
　This world is the best.
　I understood exactly what Lin had said.
　In this world, I can live freely.

　I exhaled slowly and stood up, feeling the effects of the boiling adrenaline drain away and the excitement cool down.

'Oh, it was on the air: ......'

　I remembered looking at the recording crystal, which had somehow drifted nearby, perhaps away from me during the respawn.

　When I opened the comment board, which had also been closed for some time, I found an avalanche of comments that I could hardly keep up with.
　As I stared blankly at the comments, my eyes fell upon another number.
　The number of concurrent users was 12,307.

'Twelve thousand people!

"Grass.
"Grass.
'Good response.
"It was only about 100 at first.
"I've been watching your heroics, Sukuna.
"Where's the dignity you had just now?
You look like a different person.
"There's a theory that Sukuna has a dual personality.
"A player with AI for combat.
"I'm about to be annihilated.

　Seeing me stunned with amazement, the comment board is filled with all kinds of posts.
　That's 12,000 people. That's impossible.
　As I said in the comments, there were less than 100 people at first.
　Well, they're dropping fast now.

It's been an hour and a half!

　Looking at the time displayed on the menu, it was already past 8:30am, even though we had started the fight just after 7am.
　I don't know if I should be watching this live broadcast in the morning just because it's a holiday.
　I'm glad, though.



　Oh, by the way, we managed to kill the red wolf before he died.
　I heard the announcement. I want to make sure of that.

'I'm sorry, but I'm going to check the result, so I'll shut up for a bit.

'That's fine.
Tell me later.
"No.
I heard the wolf is now called the Named Boss Monster.
"Confirming your reward is a blissful time.

　Named boss monster?
　I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it was a weirdly strong monster to find around the city of beginnings.
　It's more like the Lord of the Southern Plains.
　Or rather, the listener who explained to me about its durability said it was a boss monster. I forgot about it, though, because I went into battle right away.

　Anyway, let's check out the many results one by one.


--.

Title: "Pride of the Red Wolf
The title given to those who have defeated the lone Red Wolf, Aria. The sensitivity of NPCs in the City of Beginnings and surrounding areas, as well as some NPCs in other areas, will increase.

Title 《Named Boss Hunter》.
A title given to the player who kills a named boss monster. Increases the favorability of some NPCs.

Title 《Challenger of the Strong
A title given to the player who fights a monster 10 or more Lv. higher than him/herself without forming a party and wins.

--.


　First, the titles. All of them were satisfying in their reasons for being acquired.
　First, "Pride of the Red Wolf". It is said to increase the NPC's favorability, an extremely obscure value.
　And the same goes for the "Named Boss Hunter".
　Perhaps there's an advantage to quests through NPCs or something. It seems like you might be able to get some rare quests.

　As for "Challenger of the Strong", it doesn't seem to have any meaning beyond its flavor text. Well, it seems that if there's a level difference of 10, you can use a normal monster, so I guess it's fair.

　Next, we have the accessory "Certificate of Master of Alone Defeaters".
　It's similar to the title.


--Item

Item: "Certificate of the Master's Solo-Defeater
Category: Accessory
Effect: A necklace made of orichalcon given by the gods when a named boss monster is defeated alone. Possession of this item greatly increases the favorability and trustworthiness of some NPCs.



--This item also increases your impression of NPCs.


　This item also has the effect of increasing your impression of NPCs.
　With so many effects, I wonder how it will be handled.
　At least it doesn't say that it goes down, so there should be no demerit effect.
　It's not a bad idea to wear it if it's not a loss.

　Incidentally, the necklace is said to be an orichalcon necklace, but it looks like a small orichalcon plate connected by a metal chain, not so different from an ordinary necklace at a glance.
　What is an orichalcon, anyway?
　Even though it's a standard metal in games, holding it in my hands like this gives me a strange feeling.
　In this game, it seems to be a pale looking metal.


　Leaving the orichalcon aside, let's look at the skills.


--Skills

《Starving Wolf》Skills
Classification: Rare
Cool Time: 24 hours
consumes 1% of HP every 3 seconds while the skill is active.
Increases Strength and Agility by 50% while activated. Reduces stamina and magic defense by 50%.
negates all healing effects and doubles the amount of continuous damage (poison, bleeding, fire, etc.) over time.
If you die while it is active, the penalty is doubled.
Activation Keyword "Feed My Hunger, Fang of the Wolf King
Remove Keyword "My hunger is full".
There is no skill level for this skill.

--There is no proficiency for this skill.


What's this?

　If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say it's peaky.
　The "Hungry Wolf" skill was too sharp an enhancement skill.
　Instead of gaining a large compensation, it carries a large disadvantage.

　I understand the HP consumption. The Red Wolf also used a similar skill at the end, though it didn't seem to be the same one.
　It's okay that the increased strength and agility makes your defense more fragile.
　As for the other disadvantages, to be honest, I thought they were too much.　The other disadvantages seemed to be a bit too much.
　If you want to use it well, you have to dodge all attacks and deal with slip damage. The appearance of the doubled penalty is also quite impressive.
　Also, there seems to be a kitchen-savvy line in the game.

　High risk, high reward.
　However, I was sure that it was a good match for my fighting style.

　Personally, I'm very satisfied with this one "Hungry Wolf" skill.


　The remaining item was the "Soul of Aria, the Lone Red Wolf".
　I'm a little excited to see this as a victory prize.


--I'll take it.




Item: The soul of Aria, the lone red wolf
Rarity: Named
The soul of Aria, a lone red wolf who rarely leaves behind the power of a red wolf.
This item can be used to create armor, and the rarity of items created with this item will be forced to be "Named".

This item can be used to create armor, and the rarity of items created with this item will be forced to be "Named." Items with the rarity of "Named" cannot be changed, but can be loaned by contract.


--


'Mmmm......'

　It was a very difficult thing to judge.
　Rarity: Named. I've never heard of such a thing.
　To begin with, the official page says that there are six levels of rarity for items: Common, High Common, Rare, High Rare, Epic, and Legendary.

　However, in addition, there is a notation called PM, or Player Made.
　This is to distinguish it from a drop, i.e. to prove that it is a production item.
　For example, if it is a player-made weapon, it will be labeled as "PM" regardless of its strength.

(Rarity: Named is not listed on the official website. But from the description of the item, it's not like it can only drop once, right?

　I think of things in my head that I'd rather not mutter.

　If you believe the description, the "soul of Aria, the lone red wolf" is supposed to drop "very rarely".
　I don't know much about named boss monsters, so I can't be sure, but I'm guessing that means you can get it by going around.
　If that's the case, there's a good chance that there are other players who have gotten the "Rare: Named" item.

　I'm at a loss for words when I'm asked if I want to fight a monster of that strength over and over again, but it's hard to imagine that this kind of item is only available to one player.
　If it's a reward for winning a top prize in an in-game event, there's no way that a drop from a mere boss monster can be considered a "one-off" item.

　Looking back at the announcement now, I think they said something about a 'first defeat bonus'.
　I don't know if it was a bonus for defeating Aria the Red Wolf for the first time in the game, or if it was a bonus for defeating a named boss monster for me personally.
　However, the fact that I was able to obtain an item that was said to drop very rarely in one go seemed more likely to be something other than luck.


(Well, I'm sure you'll get some information if you ask Rin or search the player's strategy information)

　(Well, you can ask Rin-chan, or you can find out some information from the players' strategy information.) I regretted a little that I had only looked at the abbreviated strategy information from the official website, but I decided to rely on Rin-chan in times of trouble.

There's a lot of pure red wolf material on ......, and if you look closely, you'll see that the level has increased by seven. Wow, apart from the level increase, my status points have increased by about 30 points. ......'

　There was nothing to lose by mumbling from here on out, so tired of being mute, I let out a mutter to myself.

　The increased status points are probably from the bonuses mentioned in the announcement. Maybe the unique boss monsters give you status points for defeating them.
　30 is equivalent to 6 levels, so that's a lot.
　As for the materials for Aria the Red Wolf, I'll put that on hold for now.
　I want to use it to make equipment, including the Soul of Aria, the Red Wolf of Solitude, but I want to check with Rin.


'Yes, I need to check the despena as well.

'Is there a despena?
'Yes, there is.
"Less for beginners.
Huh.
But this game has a very low despena.



　While looking at the comments that picked up my almost soliloquy, I opened the help menu.

　The information I found out about the penalty was not that difficult to understand.


　Basically, the penalty is six hours.
　It's simple: all stats are halved and no experience is gained.
　That's it.
　You don't lose half your money, items, or experience just because you die.
　The only real damage is that you lose the advantage of going out of the field.


　In some games, when you die, your items are taken away, your level is reduced, and you lose money.
　In that sense, it's a loose penalty, as you commented.

　Moreover, for newbies under level 20, the penalty is reduced to one hour!
　I'm 21 now, so that's 6 hours!
　I'm 21 now, so I've got six hours! Well, I've achieved my leveling goal, and I think it's okay to take a break for six hours.


　After checking the results, I decided to log out and have a chat with Rin, since I had to pay a penalty.
　She said she'd be broadcasting this afternoon, so she should be watching my broadcast now that it's not even 9 o'clock yet.

'I've got a six-hour penalty, so I'm going to drop out for a while to do some research. I'd like to buy some items, so I'll resume the broadcast earlier, around 1pm.

"Well, that's just the way it is.
"It was a sudden boss battle.
"It was like a movie.
"I'm glad I got up early.
"I'm looking forward to the result report later.
I can't wait.

'Well then, thank you very much from early in the morning. Good night.

"Good night.
"Good night.
"Otsu.
'Otsu'.

　After watching some of the comments, I pressed the logout button on the menu and left the electronic world, feeling the floating sensation that I had become accustomed to over the past few days.